On Monday afternoon, Hallie Jackson attempted to force Congresswoman Barbara Lee into asserting that Donald Trump’s presidency would be illegitimate come inauguration day. Jackson seemed to think if she brought up Congressman John Lewis’s assertions and other opinions of Lee’s colleagues, that her comments would follow suit. To Jackson’s disappointment, the Congresswoman would not say that Trump’s Presidency would be, or should be, considered illegitimate on January 20th.
Jackson began with, “Some of your colleagues are agreeing with John Lewis that Donald Trump is not a legitimate president. Is he?” The Congresswoman explained that, “We have to realize and recognize what this means when a foreign power interferes in our elections. And I'm not talking about the outcome, in terms of who won and who did not win. And I think Congressman Lewis has a very valid point when you look at hacking and Russian interference--”
Attempting to steer Lee in the right direction, Jackson interrupted, “So do you agree with him then, that because of Russian interference Donald Trump is illegitimate?” Staying on course from her first answer, but also trying to meet Jackson halfway, the Congresswoman continued to explain:
There were six of us who during the certification of the electoral college, we protested that certification. We did not want the electoral college to be certified because we felt that the legitimacy of any election must be clear and the American people deserve to know what the involvement was in terms of Russia. And so our democratic process was eroded, it was tampered with, and the legitimacy of any election that is really tampered with by a foreign power has to be put into question. Congressman Lewis is a moral leader, a civil and human rights leader. When Congressman Lewis speaks, the world listens. And so I hope people are listening very carefully and I hope that a bipartisan commission, that can let the American people know about the legitimacy of the election as it relates to Russian interference, is passed by Congress. And then the public can decide for themselves.
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Because Lee was focusing on the possible interference of Russia, and not the legitimacy issue of a Trump presidency, Jackson yet again tried to push the Congresswoman into a specific answer.“I'm parsing your language and I’m listening very carefully, but I want to get to this question because you say you–you know, you wanna listen to John Lewis and what he says is important, but on the issue of whether Donald Trump is legitimate, do you think he is, on January 20th, going to be the legitimate President of the U.S.?” The Congresswoman tried to answer Jackson’s same question for the third time but was again, interrupted because she was not answering, absolutely yes, as Jackson was pushing for. The exchange this time:
LEE: “Donald Trump, first of all, will be sworn in as the President of the United States.”
JACKSON: “I'm asking a little bit of a different question, though.”
LEE: Yeah, but I'm just saying what is important, is to recognize that we have to understand what a foreign power -- when a foreign power interferes in our elections, in our democratic processes and then someone is sworn in as president, do we believe that the process that led to the presidency is a process that was fair and that was free of foreign interference? And that is why we have to have the intelligence community reports. Hopefully some of them declassified, and the bipartisan commission needs to be put together, so the public will know.
JACKSON: Okay.
Jackson finally realized that she would not get the exact response out of Lee that she was fishing for, so she let Lee continue: “And so I think Congressman Lewis is absolutely correct when he talks about what took place that led up to this election. It's very serious and it's very dangerous.”
In a matter of two minutes, Jackson asked Lee the same question four separate times. This was a pathetic attempt at trying to get the Congresswoman to slander the legitimacy of the President-elect, which can unfortunately be found on nearly every network. Four days till inauguration day and still a huge lack of respect shown for the 45th President of the United States to be.
Here is the full transcript of the January 16th exchange:
10:30 AM SEGMENT
HALLIE JACKSON: Some of your colleagues, so Jerry Nadler this morning for example, are agreeing with John Lewis that Donald Trump is not a legitimate president. Is he?
CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE: Let me first say to you that we have to realize and recognize what this means when a foreign power interferes in our elections. And I'm not talking about the outcome, in terms of who won and who did no win. And I think Congressman Lewis has a very valid point. When you look at hacking and Russian interference --
JACKSON: So do you agree with him then, that because of Russian interference Donald Trump is illegitimate?
LEE: Well, let me say first of all, there were six of us who during the certification of the electoral college, we protested that certification. We did not want the electoral college to be certified because we felt that the legitimacy of any election must be clear and the American people deserve to know what the involvement was in terms of Russia. And so our democratic process was eroded, it was tampered with, and the legitimacy of any election that is really tampered with by a foreign power has to be put into question. Congressman Lewis is a moral leader, a civil and human rights leader. When Congressman Lewis speaks, the world listens. And so I hope people are listening very carefully and I hope that a bipartisan commission that can let the American people know about the legitimacy of the election, as it relates to Russian interference is passed by Congress, and then the public can decide for themselves.
JACKSON: So Congresswoman, just before I let you go here, I'm parsing your language and I’m listening very carefully, but I want to get to this question because you say you–you know, wanna listen to john Lewis and what he says is important, but on the issue of whether Donald Trump is legitimate, do you think he is, on January 20th, going to be the legitimate president of the U.S.?
LEE: Donald Trump, first of all, will be sworn in as the president of the United States.
JACKSON: I'm asking a little bit of a different question, though.
LEE: Yeah, but I'm just saying what is important, is to recognize that we have to understand what a foreign power -- when a foreign power interferes in our elections, in our democratic processes and then someone is sworn in as president, do we believe that the process that led to the presidency is a process that was fair and that was free of foreign interference? And that is why we have to have the intelligence community reports, hopefully some of them declassified and the bipartisan commission needs to be put together, so the public will know.
JACKSON: OKAY
LEE: And so I think Congressman Lewis is absolutely correct when he talks about what took place that led up to this election. It's very serious and it's very dangerous.
JACKSON: California's member of congress Barbara Lee. Joining us now– Thank you, Congresswoman. We'll check back in with you later in the week to see what your plans will be for inauguration day. I appreciate you being with us today.
LEE: Thank you
