On Saturday night, CNN ran a year-in-review special All The Best, All the Worst 2024, and naturally, since it’s CNN the conservative-leaning Supreme Court got a Worst.
Anchor Tom Foreman proclaimed the high court had the “worst public image plunge.” He didn’t cite a poll. He’s not wrong, but the plunge is largely among CNN viewers -- in other words, Democrats. As Gallup reported in October:
Depressed ratings of the high court are driven largely by exceedingly low trust (24%) and job approval (15%) among Democrats. These low ratings have contributed to a record 47-percentage-point party gap in trust in the federal judicial branch and near-record 57-point gap in Supreme Court job approval.
Democrats’ frustrations with the Supreme Court lie in their belief, held by 82%, that the Supreme Court is “too conservative.” Meanwhile, 69% of Republicans believe the court’s political leanings are “about right.”
“Worst public image plunge: The U.S. Supreme Court, dominated by conservatives.” @TomForemanCNN on All The Best, All The Worst 2024. “Critics sharply question the impartiality of some justices” and, worse, “conservative groups this year pursued even more hard right policies.” pic.twitter.com/l3NJ9y7YdP
— Brent Baker 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@BrentHBaker) December 29, 2024
Foreman engaged in the classic tactic that conservative-haters aren't "leftists" or "Democrats," they're just "Critics." (Often, they're just "Experts.")
TOM FOREMAN: Worst public image plunge: The U.S. Supreme Court, dominated by conservatives, issued rulings that gave presidents broad immunity from prosecution, limited the regulatory power of government, and saw critics sharply question the impartiality of some justices. [Alito, Thomas pictured]
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: It does lend to the argument the Supreme Court has indeed been politicized and that the opinions of the justices are not based on law and precedent.
This hot take is bizarre, since the original Roe v. Wade was politicized judicial activism that turned law and precedent on its head, as many rulings have done since the Sixties. CNN insisted the Dobbs decision repealing national abortion on demand is still hated, although it didn’t move the needle or "galvanize" voters as Democrats so urgently hoped:
FOREMAN: The court's ruling more than two years ago to let states decide on abortion rights is still white hot.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: I don't think that like this is over by any stretch of the imagination and it's still a galvanizing topic.
And the “hard right” pushed “religion in the public square.” But they show protesters opposing genital-amputation surgeries and puberty blockers for minors. But the leftists pushing transgenderism and wokeness are never "hard" on ideology at all.
FOREMAN: And conservative groups this year pursued even more hard right policies on religion in the public square.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: We're seeing people on the right pushing the envelope because even though things have been asked and answered, they think maybe with this court the answer has changed.
PS: Foreman & Co. also trashed Trump's "revenge" tour with "controversial" cabinet picks, which ended with House Democrat leader Hakeem Jeffries pledging: “We will push back against far-right extremism whenever necessary.”
Typical Tom Foreman in CNN's year-end special: "After his win, Trump began rolling out a raft of controversial cabinet picks and advisors, many who have echoed his calls to go after his critics."
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) December 30, 2024
John Berman: "He went for loyalists. He went for people who would break things!" pic.twitter.com/MadOFVUiXo
