Joy-Ann Reid Says Economic Pain Is Turning Michigan Voters Against Israel Aid

Joy-Ann Reid said Americans are turning against military aid to Israel because they are short of money. With voting underway today, she defended on Monday night an ad on Israel aid and grocery prices that became a flashpoint in the Michigan Senate race.

"But when you're economically struggling, foreign aid feels like a luxury," Reid, a former MSNBC host, said on Monday night's episode of The Joy Reid Show.

Reid said Cenk Uygur made the ad "back in 2024, I believe." As for why it resurfaced: "the reason I think they re-released it is because the message in it aligns" with that of Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan. Reid stressed that it was "not for the Abdul El-Sayed campaign or by the Abdul El-Sayed campaign." Michigan Representative Haley Stevens, who lost the Democratic primary to El-Sayed, demanded that he denounce the ad. Then, over the weekend, she endorsed Republican Mike Rogers.

Joy-Ann Reid on Why the Israel Aid Ad Works

A panelist on the show called the ad silly. Reid disagreed: "I don't think it was a silly ad." In her view, voters' patience with foreign aid depends on how they are doing financially. "When people are flush, when everyone's got lots of money, then people can afford to have a lot more grace toward foreign aid," she said.

She said the same thing happened with Ukraine when the economy soured under former President Joe Biden: "people got real funky about sending aid to Ukraine."

"So whether it's Ukraine or Israel, when you are pinched tight, and your government is telling you there's no money for healthcare for you," she said, people start asking why the money goes overseas.

She drew a line between the two, though. That is Reid's own characterization of Israel's war in Gaza; Israel rejects the genocide charge, and the legal question is contested.

Reid Makes the Case for USAID

Reid argued that USAID belongs in a different category. She called its gutting under Elon Musk's cost-cutting effort a mistake: "Cutting USAID probably killed a lot of children around the world, thank you, Elon Musk." Reid offered no estimate for that toll.

"USAID money is not a luxury because USAID not only helps keep people alive around the world, it keeps America's image positive around the world," she said. "It's good for you when we give money to USAID."

She also rejected the charge that El-Sayed's message is antisemitic. "It is not anti-Semitic because he's not saying we don't wanna spend money on Jewish people because I promise you Jewish people in Michigan also need healthcare," she said.

Polling Shows a Shift on Israel

Polling supports Reid's view that opinion is moving. Gallup's February 2026 survey found that 41 percent of Americans sympathized more with the Palestinians and 36 percent more with the Israelis. It was the first time since Gallup began the annual question in 2001 that Israelis did not lead.

Checking the '$161' Claim and Reid's Budget 'Pie'

The ad says a new $26 billion for Israel works out to about $161 per taxpayer. The division is right, but the premise is not. The Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, passed in April 2024, provided $26.38 billion, and the IRS received 163.5 million individual returns in 2024, or roughly $161 per return. But a summary from House Appropriations Committee Democrats shows that $9.15 billion of the package was humanitarian aid "for Gaza as well as other vulnerable populations around the world." Another $2.4 billion paid for U.S. Central Command operations in the region, and $400 million went to a domestic nonprofit security grant program. Without those items, about $14 billion remains, or under $90 per return.

The ad also suggests the money pays for bombing Gaza. "Apparently it's costing us a lot of money to drop bombs on Gaza," one of its characters says. But much of the remainder was defensive or went to restocking the U.S. military: $5.2 billion for the Iron Dome, David's Sling and Iron Beam missile defense systems, and $4.4 billion to replenish U.S. stocks of equipment sent to Israel.

The real numbers look different. Total federal spending was $7.0 trillion in fiscal 2025, according to Congressional Budget Office figures. Of that, Social Security cost $1.6 trillion, Medicare $987 billion, Medicaid $669 billion and net interest $1 trillion. Those four items alone come to about $4.3 trillion, more than 60 percent of the total, which leaves defense well short of half of all spending.

What Happens Next

Michigan votes today. El-Sayed leads Rogers by 4.8 points in PolitiKool's polling average, 49.3 percent to 44.5 percent.