The red tsunami was so apparent on Election Day that by 5 O’clock that evening – before the polls even closed – MSNBC was already calling the results in Georgia illegitimate. That was the hot take from Morgan State University professor and MSNBC fill-in host Jason Johnson, who also spewed disinformation about when someone could vote. He also got backup from Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace.
Shortly before the clock struck five, Johnson suggested, without evidence, that the top of the hour would be the cut-off for provisional ballot distribution in Georgia. He then argued that no matter what the results were they won’t be the truth because of so-called “voter suppression”:
The level of voter suppression is beyond anything that we saw in 2018. So, I think it's completely up in the air. There has been youth turnout at levels we haven't expected. Democrats feel confident, Republicans I’ve spoken to feel confident. But we can't say that whatever happens tonight is a fair and equitable election because there have been too many laws passed by election deniers to keep people from being able to express themselves.
“The election deniers were so offensive they were rejected by Georgia Republican primary voters who picked Kemp and Raffensperger, who – as Jason said – did go ahead and pass and sign into law the ‘election integrity’ law that was a voter suppression law,” Wallace scoffed in agreement, using air-quotes for “election integrity.”
Ed Whelan, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center did a fact-check of Johnson’s assertion and found him lacking.
“Here's what his claim about provisional ballots actually means: If you show up at the *wrong precinct*, poll workers will tell you where your polling place is. You can go there to vote, or you can submit a provisional ballot after 5:00,” he wrote on Twitter, providing a receipt.
In reality, Georgia was seeing record voter turnout.
These comments that damage democracy were made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Prevagen and AT&T. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Deadline: White House
November 8, 2022
4:55:35 p.m. Eastern(…)
NICOLLE WALLACE: Jason Johnson, I know you have lots of thoughts and we’re low on time so I’m going to keep my question short. What are your sort of final thoughts on this race in the final hours before the polls close?
JASON JOHNSON: I think this is the greatest indicator that we always have to always talk about voter suppression. One key thing. It's almost 5:00. Right? In the state of Georgia, thanks to Brian Kemp and Raffensperger, they changed the state law so that you cannot get a provisional ballot in Georgia before 5:00. So, if you waited in line for 2 1/2 hours, got there, and they said oh, there's a mistake, you can't get a provisional ballot here.
The level of voter suppression is beyond anything that we saw in 2018. So, I think it's completely up in the air. There has been youth turnout at levels we haven't expected. Democrats feel confident, Republicans I’ve spoken to feel confident. But we can't say that whatever happens tonight is a fair and equitable election, because there have been too many laws passed by election deniers to keep people from being able to express themselves.
WALLACE: You know, Greg, it's so interesting. The election deniers were so offense they were rejected by Georgia Republican primary voters who picked Kemp and Raffensperger, who – as Jason said – did go ahead and pass and sign into law the “election integrity” [air quotes] law that was a voter suppression law.
(…)
