On Thursday's New Day, liberal CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin continued freaking out over Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement as he not only renewed his predictions of Roe V. Wade being overturned, but he also forecast that religious conservatives who own businesses would bar gays from patronizing their restaurants and hotels. Liberal CNN co-host John Avlon left open the possibility that a "dystopian Handmaid's Tale type America" might happen.
The two also badgered former Donald Trump advisor Steve Cheung as he resisted making predictions about future court cases, with Avlon complaining that "You're adding very little value to the conversation with that kind of pablum."
In the show's first segment during the 6:00 a.m. hour, Toobin fretted:
If you are a gay couple who wants to be served in a business that is owned by religiously conservative people, you will not be able to buy a hotel room, be served in a restaurant, buy a wedding cake. These are aspects of American life that are going to change.
Avlon suggested Toobin was wrong to flat-out make such a prediction, but left open the possibility that it may be true: "Saying these things are a fait accompli, we're going to a dystopian Handmaid's Tale type America, I think, is going to far. The possibility that those things could happen certainly exists."
The liberal Avlon also used the preferred liberal slam of pro-lifers as "anti-choice" at one point as he recalled that Trump did not have a previous history of opposing abortion before he ran for President.
About an hour later, as the group of liberals was joined by one right-leaning guest, after Cheung argued that Trump would appoint a justice who supports the "rule of law" rather than judicial activism, Toobin bristled as he responded:
Let's talk about people's lives. Let's talk about the gay couple that goes to a small motel and the owner says, 'Well, you know, my religion says I'm not going to rent you a room,' and that's okay because of the kind of judges Donald Trump is putting on the bench -- is that gay couples think they won't be allowed to go to certain restaurants and to certain hotels because that's how life is going to change.
Three years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court mandated that same-sex marriage be allowed nationwide, Toobin notably slipped up on air and counted himself among the liberals who were rejoicing at the decision.
Avlon soon followed up with Cheung by posing: "Could you foresee a situation where a gay couple tries to check into a hotel and is denied access? And do you think that would be a good thing?"
After the conservative guest resisted giving a direct answer, Avlon complained: "That means basically nothing. You're adding very little value to the conversation with that kind of pablum."
Toobin ended up predicting a reduction in the number of black students at the University of Texas: "The University of Texas will have fewer black people soon because they are going to end affirmative action because it's going to be declared unconstitutional."
The CNN analyst did not consider the option of plans like the One Florida program which promotes college attendance for minorities without utilizing race-based admissions.
