With Senate Republicans securing the votes to give President Trump’s upcoming Supreme Court nominee a confirmation hearing before the election, on Tuesday, terrified MSNBC Democratic hack Chuck Todd desperately tried to gaslight GOP lawmakers into thinking they were flirting with “political disaster” and on a “suicide mission.”
“Romney backs Trump on holding a vote to fill Justice Ginsburg’s seat. But are Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans running head first into a political disaster?,” Todd breathlessly proclaimed at the top of MTP Daily. Always the good DNC spokesperson, he touted how “Democrats are hoping it’ll elevate the issues that helped them most at the ballot box, like health care.”
Moments later, determined to amp up the melodrama to eleven, Todd wailed:
And we begin the hour with some breaking news that could honestly destroy the Senate as we know it. With just 42 days before the election, Republicans are more confident than ever that they have the votes to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court, before the President even names a pick, which he’ll now do on Saturday, he says.
The partisan anchor then revealed who he received that hysterical talking point from: “Folks, if this vote proceeds, the unintended consequences could echo through American politics for generations. Here’s what Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had to say after Romney and McConnell both spoke.” A soundbite ran of Schumer throwing a tantrum on the Senate floor: “Sadly again, sadly, Leader McConnell has defiled the Senate like no one in this generation. And Leader McConnell may very well destroy it.”
Apparently Todd thought his earlier declaration wasn’t hyperbolic enough: “The Senate, it has been destroyed as we know it. So now we have a new Senate, it is combating like the House, he who has the power just shoves it through, that is the future of the United States Senate?”
Congressional correspondent Garrett Haake joined in channeling the fears of Democrats:
And now we’re seeing Republicans almost dare Democrats to change the rules again if Democrats take control after the November elections. Democrats really have no cards that they can play here to stop this nomination from going forward, although they could slow it down....Democrats are furious right now and they’re ready to play, like they see their colleagues on the other side of the aisle play, to try to even the score.
Todd then compared Republicans to kamikaze pilots: “...this looks like a political suicide mission for more than one Republican....This looks like a potential suicide mission for quite a few Republican incumbents, and yet, the Leader’s forcing this.”
Even Haake thought he was going a bit far: “I would take issue with the idea that it’s a suicide mission for lots of Republican senators. As I look at the map, I only see two Republicans who are up in tough races who are not running entirely glued to Donald Trump.”
Todd wrapped up the exchange by threatening Republicans: “...they’re playing with a lot more fire here. Roe [vs. Wade] is a lot more popular than Republicans want to believe when it comes to this stuff. So it is more risk than reward.”
When leftist media figures like Todd are this worried about Republicans accomplishing something, you know their Democratic Party puppet masters must be scared.
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Here is a transcript of the September 22 coverage:
12:55 PM ET
CHUCK TODD: Romney backs Trump on holding a vote to fill Justice Ginsburg’s seat. But are Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans running head first into a political disaster?
Plus, as President Trump pushes for a vote on his nominee before the election, Democrats are hoping it’ll elevate the issues that helped them most at the ballot box, like health care.
(...)
12:56 PM ET
TODD: And we begin the hour with some breaking news that could honestly destroy the Senate as we know it. With just 42 days before the election, Republicans are more confident than ever that they have the votes to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court, before the President even names a pick, which he’ll now do on Saturday, he says. This morning, one of the last major holdouts on the Republican side of the aisle, Senator Mitt Romney, came out in support of holding a vote on the President’s nominee. Republican Senator Pat Toomey quickly followed suit. Notably Senator Romney has signaled he’d even support the President’s push to hold this vote before the election.
(...)
12:58 PM ET
TODD: There does not appear to be any major GOP holdouts left. This morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spoke on the Senate floor, trying to defend his party’s brazen flip-flop from four years ago, when they held open the seat under President Obama for months under an invented principle that they came up with, that voters should decided who gets to make the pick in an election year. But of course that only applies to when there’s a Democratic president, according to many of these Senate Republicans. Folks, if this vote proceeds, the unintended consequences could echo through American politics for generations. Here’s what Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had to say after Romney and McConnell both spoke.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER: Sadly again, sadly, Leader McConnell has defiled the Senate like no one in this generation. And Leader McConnell may very well destroy it.
(...)
12:59 PM ET
TODD: So what now? Politically the Republican push to try to make this election about the Court is full of risks. It could end up elevating an issue that Democrats see as their strong suit, health care. It could end up refocusing the public’s attention on the GOP’s lack of urgency to address the virus as they drop everything to rush through a court pick, perhaps out of fear that they could lose the Senate and the presidency in November.
(...)
1:00 PM ET
TODD: And Garrett, the fear of, “This will destroy the Senate, this will destroy the Senate,” I would say it’s sort of like people saying, “Hey, climate change is coming.” No, it’s not coming, it’s here. The Senate, it has been destroyed as we know it. So now we have a new Senate, it is combating like the House, he who has the power just shoves it through, that is the future of the United States Senate?
GARRETT HAAKE: Well, Chuck, I think that we’re certainly seeing a Senate that’s behaving more and more like the House. We saw it with the end of the judicial filibuster for lower court nominees that Democrats put through when President Obama was still President Obama, we saw with the end of the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, which Republicans pushed through earlier in this term. And now we’re seeing Republicans almost dare Democrats to change the rules again if Democrats take control after the November elections. Democrats really have no cards that they can play here to stop this nomination from going forward, although they could slow it down. But if Democrats feel like even if Republicans are playing by the technical literal rules of the Senate, they weren’t keeping their word and certainly weren’t operating with the kind of comity which has always been something that was expected on the Senate side.
So you are looking at a kind of situation where we could find ourselves in a new Congress with the Senate and the House both operating in very much the same way. You know, Republicans – Mitch McConnell warns about this idea that once you start changing the rules, you get into a dangerous position because nobody’s in the majority forever, but Democrats are furious right now and they’re ready to play, like they see their colleagues on the other side of the aisle play, to try to even the score.
TODD: And Garrett, is there really, you know, what I guess the thing I’m surprised at is this looks like a political suicide mission for more than one Republican. That to go down this road, basically sight unseen, they’ll support any nominee sight unseen. They’re gonna go down this, they’re gonna basically be whatever the leadership says. This close to an election, when those ads, “95% of the time, senator so and so votes with X,” those are usually devastating ads. This looks like a potential suicide mission for quite a few Republican incumbents, and yet, the Leader’s forcing this. Any regrets on this?
HAAKE: Well, look, I think there are a couple things at play here. First of all, the timing. I think Republicans – and get ready to hear this a lot – they’ll say that any nominee that President Trump puts forward is more in line with what their voters, what conservatives want, than any nominee Joe Biden would put forward when he would get the opportunity in January. So in that case, the timing works to the advantage of these Republican senators who may not otherwise love a nominee that comes forward or frankly love being in this position at all.
Second, I would take issue with the idea that it’s a suicide mission for lots of Republican senators. As I look at the map, I only see two Republicans who are up in tough races who are not running entirely glued to Donald Trump. And that’s Susan Collins and Cory Gardner in Colorado. Of those other tough races, Martha McSally in Arizona, Thom Tillis in North Carolina, I’ll even put Steve Daines in Montana, they are running as proxies for Donald Trump. They will go exactly as far as Trump takes them. And so for them, the political risk isn’t that independents will somehow turn their backs on them or that they’ll alienate independents. That ship has already sailed. They need the President’s base to be their base too. I think only Gardner and Collins are still trying to cue this kind of middle course here. And for them a vote could be politically incredibly damaging. And I think that’s part of the calculus that Mitch McConnell and his leadership team have to take as they look at the timing of when they actually want to hold this vote.
TODD: We’ll see, there are suburbs in Kansas, there are suburbs in Arizona, there are suburbs in South Carolina. I just think that there are – they’re playing with a lot more fire here. Roe is a lot more popular than Republicans want to believe when it comes to this stuff. So it is more risk than reward.
(...)
