Former President Trump once called CNN’s Don Lemon “the dumbest man on television.” And on Thursday night he once again proved it by showing how he doesn’t understand what constitutes a majority of the Senate. Lashing out at Senate Republicans and Democratic Senators Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) and Joe Manchin (WV), he suggested the refusal to blow up the filibuster was the “minority ruling the majority.”
Just to quickly go over the math: 50 + 2 = 52 and 52 out of 100 is a majority.
“GOP won't protect the vote. Two members of his own party won't carve out the filibuster to make it happen,” Lemon decried in his opening screed. “This is what you call -- I mean it's flat out it's a minority ruling the majority. That's what it is.”
Adding: “It's what happens when you have a -- a razor-thin majority but a minority party explicitly saying, ‘we're not going to work with you.’ A minority party who appears voting rights, they don't really care about it. It doesn't matter to them.”
A few minutes later, he spoke with CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein asserted that Manchin and Sinema’s defense of the filibuster was allowing “for the red states to proceed to steadily tighten the tourniquet on voting rights throughout this decade.”
Brownstein went on to warn of a coming “great divergence” where Republicans would be “unwinding of civil liberties and civil rights”:
So we could be in a period of a significant unwinding of civil liberties and civil rights that go beyond voting rights in the red states. I mean, it is highly likely the Supreme Court is going to let the states -- the red states restrict or ban abortion. We're seeing rollbacks of LGBTQ rights, First Amendment rights in terms of limiting how teachers can talk about race in schools or how people can protest, heighten penalties for protesters.
There is a great divergence, I think, that is ahead between what basic civil liberties look like in red states or blue states, and today is a turning point or crossroads on that path.
“Listen, the lion’s share of the blame should be placed on Republicans because they're just not going to budge, but also on the two Democrats who have this sort of misguided idea of what the filibuster is actually about and the history of the filibuster,” Lemon sneered in response.
Building off of Lemon’s attack on Republicans, Brownstein showed his disdain for democracy as he decried Republican MAJORITIES in state legislatures passing election laws. “We're seeing Republicans impose these voting restrictions in the red states on a party-line majority vote basis,” he said. “The states are passing these restrictions on a party-line majority basis.”
“You say today reveals that the trifecta of red-state legislatures, the right-leaning Supreme Court, and the Senate filibuster making it impossible for Democrats to govern even when they win elections,” Lemon huffed.
Tell that to Trump who had his agenda foiled by obstructionist Democrats.
Of course, this all served to push the Big Lie that Republicans are restricting access to the right to vote.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN’s Don Lemon Tonight
January 13, 2022
10:13:31 p.m. Eastern(…)
DON LEMON: So, the President admitting defeat because the GOP won't protect the vote. I mean, it's really mainly about the GOP because you can't get one or two when it's usually bipartisan. But you can't get one or two, even a couple? Nope.
GOP won't protect the vote. Two members of his own party won't carve out the filibuster to make it happen.
This is what you call -- I mean it's flat out it's a minority ruling the majority. That's what it is. It's what happens when you have a -- a razor thin majority but a minority party explicitly saying, “we're not going to work with you.” A minority party who appears voting rights, they don't really care about it. It doesn't matter to them.
And then there is the conservative majority Supreme Court in a decision that is a huge hit to the President's attempt to use the power of the federal government to fight the pandemic. The Supreme Court blocking his vaccine and testing rule for large businesses but allowing a vaccine mandate for some healthcare workers to go into effect nationwide.
(…)
10:36:18 p.m. Eastern
RON BROWNSTEIN: It's a momentous day. I mean, you know, you can look at the failure now with Kyrsten Sinema saying she'll not accept any carve-out from the filibuster for voting rights, as well as Joe Manchin echoing that positon. You are now in a position where the road may be clear for the red states to proceed to steadily tighten the tourniquet on voting rights throughout this decade.
I mean the Supreme Court has made clear it is not going to interfere. The Roberts court has never overturned a state voting rights restriction, and in fact kind of banged the gong for everything you're seeing with the Shelby County decision, in 2013 eliminating the Justice Department’s preclearance authority.
And with Manchin and Sinema saying you need a supermajority, a bipartisan supermajority for Congress to act, there may be no effective constraint on what the red states can do.
So we could be in a period of a significant unwinding of civil liberties and civil rights that go beyond voting rights in the red states. I mean, it is highly likely the Supreme Court is going to let the states -- the red states restrict or ban abortion. We're seeing rollbacks of LGBTQ rights, First Amendment rights in terms of limiting how teachers can talk about race in schools or how people can protest, heighten penalties for protesters.
There is a great divergence, I think, that is ahead between what basic civil liberties look like in red states or blue states, and today is a turning point or crossroads on that path.
LEMON: And all of this – Listen, the lion’s share of the blame should be placed on Republicans because they're just not going to budge, but also on the two Democrats who have this sort of misguided idea of what the filibuster is actually about and the history of the filibuster.
[Crosstalk]
Go on.
BROWNSTEIN: Think of the asymmetry that is in place here. We're seeing Republicans impose these voting restrictions in the red states on a party-line majority vote basis. There are three Democratic votes total in the state legislatures for the most restrictive voting laws. And something like only 19 out of 1,600 state legislative Republicans have voted against them. The states are passing these restrictions on a party-line majority basis.
The Supreme Court decisions that have opened the door to this. The Shelby County decision in 2013 and the Rucho decision in 2019 each were approved on a party-line majority basis. Five Republican appointees outvoting four Democratic appointees. But Manchin and Sinema have set a standard that Congress can respond to these restrictions on voting rights only with a bipartisan supermajority of 60 votes.
And that kind of incongruity, that kind of imbalance in the playing field virtually guarantees, I think, that through the 2020s we're going to see more rather than less restrictions on people’s access to the ballot box.
LEMON: Why are you -- I guess you answered part of it. You say today reveals that the trifecta of red-state legislatures, the right-leaning Supreme Court, and the Senate filibuster making it impossible for Democrats to govern even when they win elections.
