Don Lemon Tonight guest host Laura Coates welcomed CNN's resident historian Douglas Brinkley onto the Friday show to discuss the latest way Republicans are threatening democracy. This time, it was a killing a bill that would've created a commission to investigate the January 6 riots. The decision to kill the bill led Brinkley to insist a third party be created to save America from the anti-democratic spirit affecting roughly 100 million people.
Despite the fact that there are several investigations related to January 6 already going on, Coates led Brinkley by asserting, "It is crazy to think that people can use the law of unintended consequences with transparency oh, 'we don't want that to happen because God forbid people to discover the truth, that was never the intention.'"
She then tried to tie the commission bill to "the sham audit in Arizona and also changing voting in so many respects to minimize people's ability to be a part of our democracy, to favor themselves."
What is currently going on in Arizona should not be compared to requiring people to provide their driver's license number on their absentee ballot, but that is what passes for logic these days at CNN.
Coates wondered, "I mean tell me, how much danger is our democracy is really? Tell me, just contextually, Douglas, how much danger is our democracy in really? Could there be worse yet to come?"
Brinkley tried to sound hopeful, "There could be worse yet to come, but as we mention, you have a House select committee, you might have a presidential commission and then there are other options."
"Other options" include the ideas that would only end up helping Democrats, "I mean, what if there’s a new conservative party? I mean, how much do we have to listen to Mitt Romney and [Lisa] Murkowski and [Susan] Collins complain. What if there is a new third party movement. You know, in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt broke the Republican Party in two and created the Bull Moose Party."
Because Brinkley does not actually care about conservatism, he of course declined to mention that the splitting of the GOP in 1912 led the election of Woodrow Wilson, one of the worst presidents ever. Additionally, the Bull Moose Party enjoyed relative success only because TR was a larger-than-life former president.
Despite the fact that nobody knows who will make up this new, allegedly conservative third party, Brinkley maintained it is necessary, "There might be a need now for a new conservative party, that would ensure the end of Trumpism and this sort of nativist, xenophobic, and anti-democratic spirit that seems to encompassing unfortunately over 100 million Americans."
One might take Brinkley's concerns more seriously if he had not previously favored an un-democratic impeachment based on another lie, "If he had been impeached and the Senate got rid of him, it would have been a large message to foreign countries, don't mess with the United States: your tool, in this case Donald Trump is gone."
This segment was sponsored by GMC.
Here is a transcript for the May 28 show:
CNN
Don Lemon Tonight
10:14 PM ET
LAURA COATES: It is crazy to think that people can use the law of unintended consequences with transparency oh, “we don't want that to happen because God forbid people to discover the truth, that was never the intention.” When the GOP is actually out there and many of them still contesting the election. I mean look at the sham audit in Arizona and also changing voting in so many respects to minimize people's ability to be a part of our democracy, to favor themselves. I mean tell me, how much danger is our democracy is really? Tell me, just contextually, Douglas, how much danger is our democracy in really? Could there be worse yet to come?
DOUGLAS BRINKLEY: There could be worse yet to come, but as we mention, you have a House select committee, you might have a presidential commission and then there are other options. I mean, what if there’s a new conservative party? I mean, how much do we have to listen to Mitt Romney and Murkowski and Collins complain. What if there is a new third party movement. You know, in 1912, Theodore Roosevelt broke the Republican Party in two and created the Bull Moose Party. There might be a need now for a new conservative party, that would ensure the end of Trumpism and this sort of nativist, xenophobic and anti-democratic spirit that seems to encompassing unfortunately over 100 million Americans.
