Rihanna Fires Back at Joy Reid, Pins Trump's Win Partly on Americans Who Simply Stayed Home

Rihanna has waded into the post-election blame game Joy Reid reignited this week, using an Instagram comment to argue that Americans who skipped the 2024 vote, not only those who backed Donald Trump, share responsibility for his return.

What Joy Reid Actually Said

Reid, the former MSNBC host who now runs The Joy Reid Show independently, made the remarks during a conversation with journalist Charles M. Blow on the Rickey Smiley Morning Show. She argued that Trump's second term delivers what she believes white Americans who voted for him wanted.

'I think that America has gotten its just desserts,' Reid said. 'I think Trump, in a very real sense, is what we deserve.'

Her framing was pointed. Reid suggested that many of Trump's supporters wanted an aggressive approach to immigration and a president who would push back against discussions of slavery and racism in the country's history. The responsibility, in her telling, sat with the people who turned up and cast a ballot for him.

Rihanna Widens the Blame

Rihanna went a step further. Beneath a post sharing Reid's comments, one user wrote that those who voted for Trump 'did this'. The singer replied in the comments, 'and believe it or not, those who didn't vote at all, also did this!'

The intervention carried an obvious irony. Rihanna, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty in Barbados, is not a US citizen and cannot vote in American elections. In 2024 she joked about trying to 'sneak into the polls' with her son's passport while urging her followers to vote on her behalf. Now she was chiding the citizens who had the right she lacks and chose not to use it.

The 87 Million Who Stayed Home

The numbers give her point weight. University of Florida Election Lab data showed that about 87 million eligible Americans, roughly 36% of the voting-eligible population, did not cast a ballot in 2024. Turnout reached around 64%, high by modern standards yet still leaving tens of millions of eligible adults on the sidelines.

Pew Research Center later found that most adults who were eligible in 2020 but stayed home did so again in 2024. The Center also found that voters who turned out only in 2024, after sitting out the previous two elections, were among Trump's strongest supporters. Among 2024 non-voters, 44% preferred Trump and 40% Harris. The bloc was no safe Democratic reserve.

Why the Accountability Fight Matters

The exchange captures a broader debate over Democratic electoral strategy. One camp blames the voters who backed Trump. Another blames the party for failing to give reluctant voters a reason to show up. A third, the one Rihanna joined, points at the non-voters themselves.

That disagreement is not academic. It shapes how Democrats court disengaged Americans before the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential race. If the party decides the problem was its own message, it moves one way. If it decides the problem was apathy, it moves another.

Rihanna, barred from the ballot box, landed on the harder answer. In her view, those who could have voted, and didn't, share responsibility for the outcome.