Joy Reid Admitted the Unthinkable On Air When Her Guest Wanted Team USA To Lose

Joy Reid let a podcast guest openly root against Team USA in the World Cup.

His reasoning had nothing to do with soccer and everything to do with the White House.

What he admitted about Trump next revealed exactly why he wanted America to lose.

Nation Sports Editor Told Joy Reid Exactly Why He Wants Trump To Lose

Dave Zirin has spent more than a decade turning sports into a weapon against his own country.

The Nation's sports editor sat down with former MSNBC host Joy Reid on July 1 and made his priorities clear.

Zirin told Reid he wished the Americans were playing a Global South opponent so he could root against them with more fervor.

He wanted Team USA knocked out specifically so President Trump could not claim the win.

Reid did not push back.

She agreed in a single word.

"Exactly," she replied, according to Fox News.

Reid then explained she was rooting for African nations instead, hoping a team from that same Global South could take the trophy from her own country.

This is the same Joy Reid who told her audience over the Fourth of July weekend that she could not celebrate America's birthday as a Black person in this country.

Zirin is not some random guest with a passing opinion.

He has spent his career pushing boycotts against Israel, defending athletes who kneel during the anthem, and arguing that American sports have long been used to glorify the military and sell national dominance to the public.

This is a man who has built an entire career convincing himself that hating America is intellectually sophisticated.

Belgium Embarrassed Trump With A Dance After Beating The Team Zirin Wanted To Lose

Zirin and Reid were not the only ones furious that Trump got involved in the tournament.

Trump called FIFA President Gianni Infantino directly to seek a review of a red card against USMNT striker Folarin Balogun, and FIFA suspended the ban days later.

He later confirmed the call at the White House, insisting the play was not a foul.

Belgium's federation called the decision astonishing and said it was reviewing every possible option to fight it.

None of it mattered once the whistle blew in Seattle.

Belgium thrashed Team USA 4 to 1, and Christian Pulisic turned the ball over eleven times in the first half alone.

Romelu Lukaku broke into the "Trump dance" after scoring Belgium's fourth goal, capping the rout on American soil.

Zirin got the loss he wanted, just not from the team he originally named.

The scoreboard does not erase what Zirin and Reid said before a single goal was scored.

They were caught on record hoping their own country would lose, and no final whistle changes that.

That is the part nobody in the liberal media wants to talk about.

The Bubble Zirin And Reid Built For Themselves

Zirin and Reid did not stumble into this position by accident.

This is the same media crowd that watched Megan Rapinoe complain the U.S. men's hockey team had let itself be "co-opted" after players celebrated Olympic gold with Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel earlier this year.

Outlets like The Athletic ran columns branding the World Cup's host nation itself as a problem before the tournament even began.

Every time American athletes wear the flag without apologizing for it, a certain class of commentator decides the real scandal is the celebration, not the achievement.

Zirin spent years building a career on that instinct, which is exactly why he could sit across from Reid and hope his own country's soccer team would lose without blinking.

It also explains why nobody in that recording booth thought anything they said was wrong.

They were not talking to voters or to skeptics.

They were talking to each other, inside a bubble where rooting against America is simply the price of admission.

Grandpa is not wrong to be furious about this one, because the man trashing Team USA gets paid more to hate this country than most Americans make loving it.

Sources:

• Bobby Burack, "Joy Reid Says She's Openly Rooting for Team USA to Lose, Hopes an African Team Wins the World Cup," Fox News/OutKick, July 6, 2026.
• Dylan Gwinn, "Joy Reid Guest Rooting for Team USA to Lose So Victory Won't be 'Exploited' by Trump," Breitbart, July 6, 2026.
• Dan Zaksheske, "Sports Media Gatekeepers Try to Dictate Which American Fans Are Allowed to Cheer for Team USA at World Cup," Fox News/OutKick, June 22, 2026.
• Scott Thompson and Patrick Ward, "Trump Called FIFA President to Review Folarin Balogun's Red Card Ahead of USA-Belgium Match, Source Says," Fox News, July 5, 2026.
• Alejandro Avila, "Belgium Embarrasses Team USA Before Breaking Out Trump's Signature Dance Celebration After Fourth Goal," Fox News/OutKick, July 7, 2026.