On Tuesday, the left-wing hosts of CBS This Morning all radically advocated that convicted felons should have the right to vote, claiming that anyone losing that right as punishment for their crimes was “ridiculous,” “mind-boggling,” and “wrong.” They predictably suggested racism was the motivation for the legal restriction.
“A court ruling in North Carolina will allow thousands of people with a felony conviction to vote again,” correspondent Vladimir Duthiers excitedly announced late in the 7:00 a.m. ET hour. He explained that the ruling applied to “a group that is disproportionately black” and how “state law had required felons to complete their probation or parole before being allowed to register to vote, that process can take years.”
Only briefly did Duthiers mention anyone objecting to the ruling contradicting state law: “North Carolina Republicans say they intend to appeal the ruling.”
Turning to co-host Gayle King, the reporter recalled a 2019 interview she conducted with a rapper who argued his 2008 conviction for gun and drug charges should be overturned: “I was reminded, Gayle, you did that interview with Meek Mill and he talked about how difficult it is when you’re on parole to continue to live your life.”
King fondly remembered how Meek smeared the entire criminal justice system as a “dangerous” enemy: “He told me something I thought was very interesting, that one of the most dangerous weapons you can have is a judge with a pen. You know, a prosecutor or a judge with a pen, how it can just totally change your life.”
Then fellow co-host Tony Dokoupil chimed in by wondering why any criminal would ever have their right to vote taken away: “I’ve never really understood taking away the right to vote from somebody who committed a crime, because you want to reintegrate someone into society, make them care and make them invested as part a of the community and voting does that.” King agreed: “Yeah, me neither, Tony.”
Co-host Anthony Mason promptly threw out the race card: “...the disproportionate effect of this particular law, black North Carolinians make up 21% of the state’s population, but 42% of those who are on parole.”
Duthiers frustratingly complained: “It’s mind-boggling. And there are 11 states, Tony, where you – if you go to jail and you’re convicted of a crime, you cannot vote indefinitely, unless you get a pardon.” Dokoupil denounced: “It’s astounding, and I think, ridiculous.” King repeatedly proclaimed that it was “mind-boggling and wrong.”
This is the same network that has routinely pushed wildly reckless claims that Republican voting reform laws in states across the country were “Jim Crow 2.0” and a threat to “national security.”
Unfortunately, CBS is not alone in it’s radicalism on the topic. Just a few weeks earlier, ABC touted a convicted murderer being elected to local office while still serving a prison sentence in Washington, D.C. and similarly lobbied for current inmates to be able to vote.
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Here is a full transcript of the August 24 segment:
7:39 AM ET
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: A court ruling in North Carolina will allow thousands of people with a felony conviction to vote again. It applies to around 56,000 people who’ve left prison but are still being supervised, a group that is disproportionately black. A state law had required felons to complete their probation or parole before being allowed to register to vote, that process can take years. North Carolina Republicans say they intend to appeal the ruling.
I was reminded, Gayle, you did that interview with Meek Mill and he talked about how difficult it is when you’re on parole to continue to live your life. This will, in the folks in North Carolina, will make their lives –
GAYLE KING: He told me something I thought was very interesting, that one of the most dangerous weapons you can have is a judge with a pen. You know, a prosecutor or a judge with a pen, how it can just totally change your life.
TONY DOKOUPIL: I mean, another very dangerous weapon of course is the right to vote, and if you don’t use it and what happens with that. I’ve never really understood taking away the right to vote...
KING: Yeah, me neither, Tony.
DOKOUPIL: ...from somebody who committed a crime, because you want to reintegrate someone into society, make them care and make them invested as part a of the community and voting does that.
ANTHONY MASON: Right. And to your point about the disproportionate effect of this particular law, black North Carolinians make up 21% of the state’s population, but 42% of those who are on parole.
DUTHIERS: It’s mind-boggling. And there are 11 states, Tony, where you – if you go to jail and you’re convicted of a crime, you cannot vote indefinitely, unless you get a pardon.
DOKOUPIL: It’s astounding, and I think, ridiculous.
KING: Mind-boggling and wrong, those numbers.
DOKOUPIL: Yeah.
DUTHIERS: Mind-boggling.
KING: Mind-boggling and wrong.
