CNN hasn’t exactly covered itself in glory on the Israel-Iran War, but on Tuesday, former MSNBC rabble-rouser Joy Reid had a hot take so insane that even NewsNight host Abby Phillip had to rebuke her. According to Reid, the only reason why Iran wants a nuclear weapon is because Israel is attacking it in the first place.

GOP strategist Brad Todd set Reid off when he recalled that, “Joy asked a question earlier. She said you allege that the United States has not been attacked by Iran. Iran-backed militias that attacked the United States forces 170 times in Syria, in Jordan, and Iraq. You know who said that? Joe Biden said that. That's why he authorized F-15 strikes against Iran.”

Todd clearly misspoke and meant against Iranian proxies, but that aside, it’s a rather simple statement. Either Iranian proxies attacked American troops 170 times or they didn’t, but Reid still wanted to hit Biden from the left morally, “By the way, Joe Biden is the same president who has allowed Israel in an unrestrained manner to slaughter Palestinians in Gaza. So, I'm not sure that Joe Biden is who I'm looking at. I'm not sure Joe Biden is who I am going to for the moral authority here.”

Amid crosstalk from the table, Reid followed up with a statement that is somehow simultaneously wrong, hilarious, and outrageous, “And the bottom line here is the way that we know that Iran did not have nuclear weapons is that if they had nuclear weapons, Israel would not attack them. The reason they're trying to get nukes and probably Saudi Arabia is trying to get them, is because an expansionist power in their region keeps threatening them and actually bombed them.”

Where on earth did Reid get the idea that Israel is forcing the Saudis to consider nuking up? The Israelis have been known to have nuclear weapons for decades, but the Saudis have noticeably not decided to get their own. They have, however, threatened to get nuclear weapons if Iran does.

Second of all, if Iran didn’t have a nuclear program in the first place, Israel would have no need to attack in the second place.

Still, Reid wondered why others wouldn’t want nukes before Phillip cut her off, “And so the bottom line is Israel does not even subject its nuclear weapons to the IAEA. And so my question is, should anyone in the region—”

Phillip then told her, “But, Joy, this is not just about nukes. It's also about Iran being a state sponsor of terrorism and chaos and violence and death around the world. So, I mean, there's that too.”

Usually people who want to downplay Iran’s “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” rhetoric point to Saddam Hussein’s invasion in 1980 as a way to rationalize Iran’s nuclear program. But, Saddam is dead, so that doesn’t work. Reid broke the crazy meter by trying to claim that the country with eliminationist ambitions is actually the victim. The easiest way for Iran to avoid being bombed would be for it to live at peace with Israel, the United States, and yes, its Arab neighbors too. There’s a reason why Israel isn’t bombing Saudi Arabia.

Here is a transcript for the June 24 show:

CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip

6/24/2025

10:19 PM ET

BRAD TODD: Joy asked a question earlier. She said you allege that the United States has not been attacked by Iran. Iran-backed militias that attacked the United States forces 170 times in Syria, in Jordan, and Iraq. You know who said that? Joe Biden said that. That's why he authorized F-15 strikes against Iran.

REID: By the way, Joe Biden is the same president who has allowed Israel in an unrestrained manner to slaughter Palestinians in Gaza. So, I'm not sure that Joe Biden is who I'm looking at.

TODD: The Iranian-backed Hamas.

REID: I'm not sure Joe Biden is who I am going to for the moral authority here.

[Crosstalk]

And the bottom line here is the way that we know that Iran did not have nuclear weapons is that if they had nuclear weapons, Israel would not attack them. The reason they're trying to get nukes and probably Saudi Arabia is trying to get them, is because an expansionist power in their region keeps threatening them and actually bombed them.

And the bottom line -- I don't think it that Israel –

[Crosstalk]

REID: And so the bottom line is Israel does not even subject its nuclear weapons to the IAEA. And so my question is, should anyone in the region –

PHILLIP: But, Joy, this is not just about nukes. It's also about Iran being a state sponsor of terrorism and chaos and violence and death around the world. So, I mean, there's that too.