Remember when CNN fired Don Lemon not long after his female co-hosts had become infuriated when he said that Nikki Haley was not "in her prime" because she was over 40, and that they could Google it?
Could Michael Steele be the next cable news male on the hot seat? On Saturday's episode of The Weekend, there was a discussion of the decision to move the inauguration inside given the frigid weather in DC.
When Steele wondered why the inauguration date couldn't be moved back to March, as it was in the past, Symone Sanders gave a concise answer: "the Constitution."
Steele rudely responded:
"What was that? No. The inauguration was held in March right up through Roosevelt, and then they changed it. It isn't the Constitution. Come on."
If you're going to take the controversial step of correcting a colleague on the air, Michael, you better get your facts right. Symone was correct: the Constitution, in the form of the 20th Amendment, changed the end of the president and vice president's terms, and hence the inauguration, from March to January 20th.
It would take another amendment to switch it to back to March. And that would be a terrible idea. A long interval between the election and the inauguration might have been necessary in the 1800s and into the early 1900s, when transportation and communications were very slow. But a four-month interregnum is not only unnecessary, but would create a fiasco of uncertainty.
Some people are already wondering who the actual president has been since the election. Imagine if Biden, or some equally enfeebled future president, hung on to the Oval Office far beyond election day.
Ironically, in the show's second hour, Steele attacked Pam Bondi, Trump's Attorney General nominee, for responding to the Democrat senator questioning her about the contents of the 14th Amendment, "This is not time for me to take a test. I'm not here to do your homework for you."
Sniped Steele: "That's because you don't know what you're talking about. So you don't want to take the test. And the test is the job, and you failed already."
When it comes to not knowing the Amendments to the Constitution: Michael Steele, heal thyself!
Incredibly, Sanders was also dissed by her other co-host, Alicia Menendez. Sanders posed a question to NBC News correspondent Vaughan Hillyard about the Democrats' tactics in their questioning of Trump nominees. When Hillyard didn't instantly begin his response, Menendez interrupted, saying:
"Let me, let me rephrase Symone's question, which is I think there's a question coming out of her question, which is like, does any of it matter?"
Wow! That is some serious disrespect for a colleague!
Oh, to be a fly on the wall on The Weekend set when today's show is over! Symone is anything but a shrinking violet. There could be some serious fireworks in store!
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
The Weekend
1/18/25
8:06 am ETSYMONE SANDERS: I mean, it's kind of hard to believe. And I mean, on one hand, you've got Senate Republicans who are literally, like, rolling over for Donald Trump, even when they don't believe it. Because I actually don't believe that Joni Ernst, if she, you know, didn't have the threat of being primaried hung over her head, she would be going along with the get-along here. But she wants to keep her seat. So you've got Senate Republicans doing that.
And then you've got Senate Democrats, where many folks have said that they were surprised by how they all necessarily didn't rise to the occasion, right? Like, it didn't seem in some of the questioning, in some of these hearings, it seemed like there was some coordination amongst the Democrats, and they were asking very pointed and real questions. But then for some of them, it seemed like grandstanding.
You know, and Congress is an equal partner here. They are a co-equal branch of government. It's not like you do what the president says. You're a co-equal branch of government.
And I'm just wondering how you all read that. Like, did you? I don't know. I kind of felt that Senator Gillibrand will be here. And she was, I thought, excellent. Very pointed questioning of Pete Hegseth, direct questions. Senator Tammy Duckworth, direct questions. I thought that Andy Kim was direct questions. But then there were some other folks in some of these other hearings. I'm like, what's going on?
Oh, y'all don't want to criticize Democrats today?
ALICIA MENENDEZ: Well, but here's, let me, let me rephrase Simone's question, which is, I think there's a question coming out of her question, which is like, does any of it matter, right? If Republicans have decided that this is all a big show, Vaughn, and that they are going to do whatever they need to do to pave the way for Donald Trump's nominees, then is there anything Democrats could do that would change that?
. . .
SANDERS: The inauguration is now inside, Vaughn. What can you tell us? I just want to note, it's been cold before. Inaugurations have happened outside.
VAUGHAN HILLYARD: That is accurate. Barack Obama had a very cold one. The temperatures were in the 20s. Now, let me be very clear. It is very cold outside and will be cold outside. I think we're looking at a high of 21 degrees.
You know, this is going to be, this was a decision that was made to move everybody in. The President-elect cited health concerns, not only for the attendees that were coming, but also for police personnel, including the horses. As I'm looking outside the window here, they are tough conditions, and I don't think some of us who were assigned to be on outside patrol even mind it moving inside for whatever reason.
MICHAEL STEELE: Well, there's still the value of moving the inauguration back to March. I don't know why they ever moved it to January in the first place, but here we are.
SANDERS: The Constitution.
STEELE: What was that?
SANDERS: The Constitution.
STEELE: No. The inauguration was held in March right up through Roosevelt, and then they changed it. It isn't the Constitution. Come on.
