On Sunday's Meet the Press, during the panel segment debating the ongoing Democrat Party obsession over "voting rights", Republican Party strategist Sara Fagen schooled leftist Democrat pollster Cornell Belcher on the simple fact that it is easier to vote today in America than ever before.
NBC political director and moderator Chuck Todd first tried to shame Fagen on her party's refusal to support the Democrat's voting bill by asking her if there's "any penalty for Republicans being seen as not on the side of this issue?"
Of course, Fagen wasn't having any of this. She instead rightfully ignored Todd and ripped away the facade of the Democrat Party's claim that their voting reform bill is needed because people are being denied the right to vote:
Well look, I think -- first of all, overwhelmingly, you know, it's easier to vote in the United States than it ever has been. And so much of the rhetoric around voting rights is really about animating the Democratic base. Americans overwhelmingly support voter IDs. Getting an ID is easy in the United States and it's also free if you can't afford it. And so, you know so much of this is about mobilizing the base. And I think for most Americans, particularly independent Americans, they recognize that. So I, I don’t– this is an issue that's not gonna pass, and I think this is just about the base.
Todd then quickly tried to move the conversation away from the direction Fagen took it in by calling on Punchbowl News co-founder Anna Palmer, but she was intercepted by Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher who took issue with the facts and logic Fagen brought to the table.
Belcher frantically tried to counter Fagen by laughably claiming "it is not that easy to vote in America, if you happen to look like me and you’re in Georgia, standing in line for six or seven hours to vote. It's not easy to vote in America if you happen to look like me."
He further claimed it was Republicans who have "intentionally shut down voting polls for places that cater to minorities and people who actually vote Democratic. You've seen over 200 laws pass over this last year since the power of young people and black voters turned and flipped states and Hispanic votes flipped states. That's not by accident, Sara. It is harder to vote today in American than it was."
Fagen in response set the record straight that it was the south that currently has more open access to voting than the northern states in the country. She made the irrefutable point that the "early vote, absentee vote, these have been growing for the last decade. Every year more and more people vote by these means."
In fact, she made such a strong point that a clearly flustered Belcher conceded her main point, but of course, he still found a way to blame Republicans:
It's been growing every decade, it’s been growing and, and, but have you seen what the state legislative bodies have been doing? You’re right, it has been growing. It has been growing and more Americans have been voting, and now they're pulling those things back.
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To read the relevant transcript of this segment click "expand":
NBC's Meet the Press
1/9/2022
11:26:49 AMCHUCK TODD: Sara Fagen, is there any penalty for Republicans being seen as not on the side of this issue?
SARA FAGEN (Republican Strategist): Well look, I think -- first of all, overwhelmingly, you know, it's easier to vote in the United States than it ever has been. And so much of the rhetoric around voting rights is really about animating the Democratic base. Americans overwhelmingly support voter IDs. Getting an ID is easy in the United States and it's also free if you can't afford it. And so, you know so much of this is about mobilizing the base. And I think for most Americans, particularly independent Americans, they recognize that. So I, I don’t– this is an issue that's not gonna pass, and I think this is just about the base.
TODD: Anna Palmer–
CORNELL BELCHER (Democratic Pollster): I gotta get in here Chuck
TODD: Go ahead.
[Crosstalk]
BELCHER: I gotta push back on my friend Sara about how easy it is to vote in America. It is not that easy to vote in America, if you happen to look like me and you’re in Georgia, standing in line for six or seven hours to vote. It's not easy to vote in America if you happen to look like me. Right? And that's been done intentionally. Republicans have intentionally shut down voting polls for places that cater to minorities and people who actually vote Democratic. You've seen over 200 laws pass over this last year since the power of young people and black voters turned and flipped states and Hispanic votes flipped states. That's not by accident, Sara. It is harder to vote today in American than it was.
FAGEN: The facts are though that it is more open in the south than it is even in the northeast, Cornell. And the reality is early vote, absentee vote, these have been growing for the last decade. Every year more and more people vote by these means. And so I just don't think that's accurate.
TODD: Alright.
BELCHER: It's been growing every decade, it’s been growing and, and, but have you seen what the state legislative bodies have been doing? You’re right, it has been growing. It has been growing and more Americans have been voting, and now they're pulling those things back.
TODD: I hate having to stop, but unfortunately that is what happens when you only have a one-hour show. That's all we have for today. A terrific panel. Thank you all. We'll be back next week. Because if it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
