CNN’s Don Lemon and Jeffrey Toobin reacted to the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade on Friday by lamenting the demise of the moderate Republican and by complete misrepresenting the Court’s holdings in the Dobbs case by showing a complete lack of understanding how the American system of government works.
Lemon was discussing abortion polls when he declared the GOP out of touch and to try to back up his point read from a Tom Nichols article in The Atlantic, “He writes ‘Republicans used to hate activist judges. I once—I was once a Republican and I remember the high-minded speeches from a party that despised using courts to circumvent the legislature. Today, those same Republicans have no hope of persuading a majority of their fellow Americans to accept their views, and so they are more than happy to abuse the rules of the Senate and prop up the now obvious lies of Supreme Court nominees to get what they want.’”
He then asked Toobin “Is that what happened here?”
The correct answer would be “no” and that Nichols’s argument would receive an F in any high school civics class. It was Roe that circumvented the legislature and Dobbs forces Republicans to “persuade a majority of their fellow Americans to accept their views.” The only difference between Dobbs and Roe is that it now forces Democrats to do the same.
Naturally, Toobin didn’t give the correct answer. Instead he lamented, “Well, I think it is all part of the larger evolution of the Republican Party. I mean, look at the United States Senate. The United States Senate used to have a dozen moderate Republicans, people like Lowell Weicker and Robert Packwood and Chuck Percy and Stafford in Vermont. They're all gone. The only Republican -- the only arguably moderate Republican in the Senate is Susan Collins, the one person in the world who believed—who believed-- Brett Kavanaugh when he said …She was very -- and now, now, she is disappointed.”
Lemon also lamented the supposed demise of the GOP, “I always laugh when Republicans say "But, you know, it was-- Lincoln and the Republicans freed the slaves and Republicans -- that party no longer exists. That is right."
After Toobin interrupted to add “that was a long time ago,” Lemon continued, “That was a long time ago, that party no longer exists, and they’re so unpopular, the, what Republicans have put forth -- are putting forth. So unpopular that they have to manipulate the system in order to implement what they want.”
Like Nichols, Lemon failed basic civics. It was Democrats who wanted the Court to “implement what they want” and no amount of books bemoaning the death of expertise will change basic facts.
In other CNN craziness, former federal prosecutor and Toobin’s fellow legal analyst Shan Wu joined New Day Weekend on Saturday morning to call for the impeachment of conservative justices.
This segment was sponsored by ADT.
Here is a transcript for the June 24 show:
CNN Don Lemon Tonight
6/24/2022
11:08 PM ET
DON LEMON: Jeff, but it is interesting because that is not where the majority of Americans are, right? Let me read this. I want to read this to you. This is from Tom Nichols in The Atlantic, the piece is called, "They Really Did It." He writes “Republicans used to hate activist judges. I once—I was once a Republican and I remember the high-minded speeches from a party that despised using courts to circumvent the legislature. Today, those same Republicans have no hope of persuading a majority of their fellow Americans to accept their views, and so they are more than happy to abuse the rules of the Senate and prop up the now obvious lies of Supreme Court nominees to get what they want.”
Is that what happened here?
JEFFREY TOOBIN: Well, I think it is all part of the larger evolution of the Republican Party. I mean, look at the United States Senate. The United States Senate used to have a dozen moderate Republicans, people like Lowell Weicker and Robert Packwood and Chuck Percy and Stafford in Vermont. They're all gone. The only Republican -- the only arguably moderate Republican in the Senate is Susan Collins, the one person in the world who believed—who believed-- Brett Kavanaugh when he said –
LEMON: She is very concerned, though.
TOOBIN: She was very -- and now, now, she is disappointed. She is disappointed because Brett Kavanaugh turned out to vote the totally obvious way he was going to vote, but she apparently was the one person in America who thought that Brett Kavanaugh was not going to vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, and she provided the key vote for his confirmation.
LEMON: But here is what is interesting, though, because you talk about Republicans. I always laugh when Republicans say "But, you know, it was-- Lincoln and the Republicans freed the slaves and Republicans -- that party no longer exists. That is right."
TOOBIN: Well. You know, that was a long time ago.
LEMON: That was a long time ago, that party no longer exists, and they’re so unpopular, the, what Republicans have put forth -- are putting forth. So unpopular that they have to manipulate the system in order to implement what they want.
