A former MS NOW host, Joy Reid, is rejecting Erika Kirk’s offer to hug her after the left-wing commentator criticized her behavior since the murder of Charlie Kirk, and suggested that Vice President JD Vance might leave his wife, Usha, for Ms. Kirk.

During a speech at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest last week, Ms. Kirk responded to Ms. Reid, saying that she “probably needs a really, really good hug.” Ms. Kirk added, “I’m here for it if she needs it … I’ll even touch the back of your head.” The last part of her comment refers to left-wing commentators who made disparaging remarks about Ms. Kirk putting her hand on Mr. Vance’s head while they hugged at the Turning Point event earlier this year. 

However, Ms. Reid did not find Ms. Kirk’s response amusing, and during an episode of her “Joy Reid Show” on Monday, she said, “Don’t come near me. Don’t touch me.”

Ms. Reid rejected Ms. Kirk’s offer to hug her, saying, “Dear young lady, I don’t need a hug from you.”

“First of all, I would never let you get close enough to hug me ’cause I don’t trust you. And second of all, I don’t know if anybody ever told you — you’re pretty young — but don’t offer to touch black women’s hair. We don’t allow it,” she said. “This is not the 19-teens. It’s not the 1920s or the 1930s. You cannot come up to me, touch me, or touch my hair … I won’t allow it. So, don’t offer to do that because that’s not going to happen.”

Earlier this year, Ms. Reid speculated that Mr. Vance might leave his wife for Ms. Kirk. The left-wing commentator said that the situation would be the “most perfect fairy tale, MAGA fairy tale.” 

On Monday, Ms. Reid doubled down on her statement that it would be the “ultimate MAGA fairytale” for Mr. Vance to “leave Usha Vance alone and go run off with Charlie Kirk’s widow. It brings, like, the houses of MAGA together.”

Ms. Reid also suggested that Ms. Kirk, who is running Turning Point, needs to “figure out how you’re going to explain to your Turning Point USA base why you working and why you out rubbing on JD Vance’s back of his head [sic] and offering to rub on the back of mine instead of home with your kids.”

Mr. Vance has previously shot back at commentators who speculated about his marriage. An MS NOW host, Jen Psaki, suggested in October that Ms. Vance secretly wants to escape her marriage. Mr. Vance called Ms. Psaki’s comments “disgraceful.”

During a recent interview with UnHeard, he said, “Anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat sh—.”