On The Late Show on CBS early Wednesday, Stephen Colbert was pushing the lie again that Republican voting-integrity laws were some kind of Jim Crow scheme. In a very supportive interview with Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Colbert saluted his hero: "In the 1960s, you fought with people like John Lewis for civil rights and for voting rights for black people. Right now, bills are being passed all around the country that will effectively disenfranchise people, especially people in minority areas or minority districts."
Colbert is in Dan Rather territory on this claim, that somehow asking voters for an ID or expecting voters to find the right precinct to cast a ballot is "disenfranchising" them. It's also tremendously patronizing to minorities, that they can't be expected to show an ID or find the right polling place.
Colbert then asked his puffball question to Norton: "What is your message to the people who are facing these restrictive new voting laws?"
For her part, Norton acknowledged that the scaremongering around these laws is more of a way for Democrats to rev up their Get Out The Vote machine. "Stephen, my message is that look what happened at the last election. At the last election, people came out in record numbers. So my message is you can't stop us from voting. In fact, you're going to really make us mad and really make us go and vote."
So the CBS "News" and entertainment divisions are better understood as juicing minority turnout for the Democrats with this Jim Crow line. CBS hyped Norton's "You can't stop us from voting" line on the internet.
Over wild applause, Colbert twice told Norton "I hope you're right" and then pivoted to another Democrat pet project: D.C. statehood.
"You have worked for years to make D.C. a state, which makes complete sense, both Vermont and Wyoming have fewer people than is in the District of Columbia. So it seems oddly anti-American to have taxation without representation, as your license plate in the District says."
He recalled an interview with Norton on his Colbert Report show, that "you also promised me in 2009, during an interview, that if D.C. became a state, you would give me a key to the city. What happens, what has to happen for me to get that key? What's the process where D.C. would become a state? What actually has to happen? I know the House has passed a resolution. What happens next?"
Norton declared, "you almost have a key. Because the House has passed the bill to make the district the 51st state. And we have had a hearing in the Senate which puts us close to passage in both houses. So, Stephen, your key is on the way."
Democrats can't even get all 50 of their senators on board with D.C. statehood, so Colbert will be waiting a little longer. In the meantime, he can inform himself on what exactly it is he is alleging will disenfranchise minority voters.
This segment was sponsored by Capital One.
Here is a transcript for the July 14 show:
CBS
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
12:21 AM ET
STEPHEN COLBERT: In the 1960s, you fought with people like John Lewis for civil rights and for voting rights for black people. Right now, bills are being passed all around the country that will effectively disenfranchise people, especially people in minority areas or minority districts. What is your message to the people who are facing these restrictive new voting laws?
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON: Stephen, my message is that look what happened at the last election. At the last election, people came out in record numbers. So my message is you can't stop us from voting. In fact, you're going to really make us mad and really make us go and vote. [Cheers and applause]
COLBERT: Hope you're right. I hope you're right. [Applause] Now, speaking of not voting, you're the representative from Washington, D.C. So you get to talk but you just don't get to vote.
NORTON: Just a moment, Stephen --
COLBERT: Yes.NORTON: I get to vote in committee. I don't get to cast that final vote on the House floor, and that's what I'm working for as I speak.
COLBERT: Now, you have worked for years to make D.C. a state, which makes complete sense, both Vermont and Wyoming have fewer people than is in the District of Columbia. So it seems oddly anti-American to have representation without taxation as your license plate in the district says. You also promised me in 2009, during an interview, that if D.C. became a state, you would give me a key to the city. [Laughter] What happens, what has to happen for me to get that key? What's the process where D.C. would become a state? What actually has to happen? I know the House has passed a resolution. What happens next?
NORTON: So you almost have a key. [Laughter] Because the House has passed the bill to make the district the 51st state. And we have had a hearing in the Senate which puts us close to passage in both houses. So, Stephen, your key is on the way. [Cheers and applause]
