On Sunday's AM Joy, one left-wing MSNBC guest portrayed Republicans as a "RepubliKlan party" promoting "white supremacy," and another guest tried to paint one of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees as a "segregationist" as he also smeared former Senator Jesse Helms as "one of the most notorious racists in American politics."
Ari Berman of the far-left Mother Jones appeared about 11:36 a.m. ET to discuss one of his articles in which he went after federal judicial nominee Tom Farr as someone who had supported "voter suppression" in North Carolina. He also claimed that the Neil Gorsuch Supreme Court seat was "stolen" from Democrats, and, without offering any evidence, accused former Senator Helms of being a "notorious racist."
They've now shifted the Supreme Court for three or four decades because of Neil Gorsuch -- because they stole a Supreme Court seat for Neil Gorsuch. They're reshaping the federal judiciary all the way on down. Most cases don't reach the Supreme Court -- as you know, Joy -- so the district courts, the appeal court matters tremendously. Tom Farr not only defended voter suppression in North Carolina, he worked as a lawyer for Jesse Helms -- one of the most notorious racists in American politics.
Berman then tried to use guilt by association to suggest that Farr is a "segregationist" because he worked at the same law firm with an attorney named Tom Ellis who long ago supposedly had a history of backing school segregation:
His law partner was a guy who was a huge a segregationist, a guy by the name of Tom Ellis, who told North Carolina they should shut down their public schools rather than integrate in the wake of Brown vs Board of Education -- a guy who headed a group called the Pioneer Fund which funded eugenics research claiming that whites were genetically superior to blacks.
Then, as if Ellis were the one being appointed to the court instead of Farr, Berman concluded:
As if, I mean, this is the kind of person that Donald Trump is trying to nominate to the federal bench -- these kinds of ties to segregationists, defending voter suppression laws. It's so obvious what they're trying to do.
Host Joy Reid then jumped in to suggest that President Trump is appointing "segregationists" as she responded:
Yeah, and it's all over the country. I mean, you cannot say it enough that, you know, Democrats don't typically vote on the issue of judges, but you're talking about putting segregationists and people that are in favor of suppressing the votes of people of color all over the country on these circuit courts.
On the subject of guilt by association, neither of them seemed to notice the irony that, not three hours earlier on the same network, a man who has a well-known history of making anti-Semitic statements was hosting his own show in the form of Reid's MSNBC colleague, Al Sharpton. In recent years, Sharpton has even doubled down on some of his past racist statements instead of apologizing.
And then, of course, there's Barack Obama attending the church of the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, and Senate Democrats in the 1980s electing a former KKK member as their leader for a decade in the form of former West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd.
In another segment a bit later, frequent AM Joy guest and Democratic pollster Fernand Amandi recalled that former President George W. Bush recently gave a speech in which he seemed to criticize President Trump. After admitting that he thought Bush was one of the worst Presidents ever, he accused the GOP under Trump of being the "RepubliKlan party" promoting "white supremacy" as he added:
Again, the issue polarizing here, the issue at the heartbeat of it all: race. The Republican party -- or the RepubliKlan party, as I call them now, which is what Donald Trump has sanctioned them as -- cannot and will not allow any proper discussion on their white supremacy to be had because it all unravels after that, and I think that's what George W. Bush courageously did.
Fellow liberal guest and commentator Anushay Hossain then gushed over former President Barack Obama's recent speech and admitted to having sudden respect for former President Bush as she responded:
I think it is inescapable for the Republican party, but can I just say, seeing both Bush and Obama back this week - first of all, my soul, I forgot how much my soul needed to hear Obama's words. You really can't beat Obama when it comes to his oratory skills, and you know what, I did want to get up and say, "Amen and Hallelujah!" And George Bush, as well. I mean, only Trump can make you feel nostalgic for the Bush era.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Sunday, October 22, AM Joy on MSNBC:
11:36 a.m. ET
ARI BERMAN, MOTHER JONES: They've now shifted the Supreme Court for three or four decades because of Neil Gorsuch -- because they stole a Supreme Court seat for Neil Gorsuch. They're reshaping the federal judiciary all the way on down. Most cases don't reach the Supreme Court -- as you know, Joy -- so the district courts, the appeal court matters tremendously. Tom Farr not only defended voter suppression in North Carolina, he worked as a lawyer for Jesse Helms -- one of the most notorious racists in American politics.
His law partner was a guy who was a huge a segregationist, a guy by the name of Tom Ellis, who told North Carolina they should shut down their public schools rather than integrate in the wake of Brown vs Board of Education -- a guy who headed a group called the Pioneer Fund which funded eugenics research claiming that whites were genetically superior to blacks. I mean, this is the kind of person that Donald Trump is trying to nominate to the federal bench -- these kinds of ties to segregationists, defending voter suppression laws. It's so obvious what they're trying to do.
REID: Yeah, and it's all over the country. I mean, you cannot say it enough that, you know, Democrats don't typically vote on the issue of judges, but you're talking about putting segregationists and people that are in favor of suppressing the votes of people of color all over the country on these circuit courts.
(...)
11:54 a.m. ET
FERNAND AMANDI, BENDIXEN AND AMANDI INTERNATIONAL: President Bush now and the extended Bush family are acting as the conscience not only for the Republican party but in many respects for the country. That stature that he has as a former President I think gives his voice a tremendous weight. And I say that as someone who thought George Bush was a historically awful President. Until Donald Trump came along, I think, he was in the competition there for some of the worst of all time.
But, having said that, look at the reaction, Joy, who is it that came out to, just to destroy George Bush after those comments where he touched on white supremacy? Steve Bannon, who -- I think his exact quote was, "George W. Bush was so out of line with those comments." Again, the issue polarizing here, the issue at the heartbeat of it all: race. The Republican party -- or the RepubliKlan party, as I call them now, which is what Donald Trump has sanctioned them as -- cannot and will not allow any proper discussion on their white supremacy to be had because it all unravels after that, and I think that's what George W. Bush courageously did.
JOY REID: Yeah, and, Anushay, you know, you cannot escape the fact that but for the election of a black President, of a Barack Obama, with whom Donald Trump seems to be obsessed, you don't really have the possibility in a lot of ways of a Trump presidency. Is that inescapable for the Republican party?
ANUSHAY HOSSAIN, WRITER: I think it is inescapable for the Republican party, but can I just say, seeing both Bush and Obama back this week - first of all, my soul, I forgot how much my soul needed to hear Obama's words. You really can't beat Obama when it comes to his oratory skills, and you know what, I did want to get up and say, "Amen and Hallelujah!" And George Bush, as well. I mean, only Trump can make you feel nostalgic for the Bush era.
