On her Monday afternoon show, MSNBC anchor Katy Tur tried to preemptively claim that elections results in 2022 and 2024 – contests in which Republicans are expected to do well – would be illegitimate. She even wondered in there was a “contingency plan” in place for 2024 in case “there is another violent insurrection with millions of people.”
“So we’re all looking not just to the past, not just to a year ago, Phil, we’re looking to the future, we’re looking at to 2022 and also to 2024, where there are serious concerns among a lot of political experts, a lot of national security experts, a lot of journalists, that the next election won’t be fair and that the person who loses the election might be the one who becomes the President-Elect,” Tur wildly predicted while referencing the upcoming one year anniversary of the January 6 Capitol Hill riot.
The Washington Post’s senior Washington correspondent Philip Rucker replied by touting how Democrats were planning to exploit the anniversary to sell their radical push to federalize elections:
President Biden campaigned on restoring and protecting democracy, he said that would be a hallmark of his presidency. And, you know, clearly the administration would like voting rights to pass in the Congress in the coming weeks. Obviously that’s been a priority for some time that has slipped behind infrastructure, behind Build Back Better, has lost momentum on Capitol Hill. And I think there’s going to be an effort in the coming days to use the anniversary of January 6th to revive that.
However, he melodramatically warned that “passing a voting rights bill is simply not enough to protect, to fortify democracy.”
Moments later, Tur feared: “There are a lot of people who think that 2024 is gonna be violent.” Turning to Politico national correspondent Betsy Woodruff Swan, Tur breathlessly asked: “...is there anything being gamed out for 2024 – ‘If ‘X’ happens, we’re gonna do ‘Y’?’ If there is another violent insurrection with millions of people or thousands of people, if there are more armed people who try to forcefully take over state houses, et cetera, is there a contingency plan being sorted for 2024?”
Wrapping up the segment of hysterical fearmongering, Tur proclaimed: “I hate having to talk about this with you guys because it is scary, but it’s something we all need to face head-on because it’s coming at us.”
Despite leftist media wailing about “democracy,” anchors like Tur are already spinning unhinged conspiracy theories about future elections being stolen and “millions” of Americans preparing to overthrow the government.
This attempt to already delegitimize any possible success by Republicans at the ballot box in the months and years to come was brought to viewers by CarShield and Aleve. You can fight back by letting these advertisers know what you think of them sponsoring such content.
Here is a transcript of the January 3 segment:
2:31 PM ET
(...)
KATY TUR: So we’re all looking not just to the past, not just to a year ago, Phil, we’re looking to the future, we’re looking at to 2022 and also to 2024, where there are serious concerns among a lot of political experts, a lot of national security experts, a lot of journalists, that the next election won’t be fair and that the person who loses the election might be the one who becomes the President-Elect.
Given the numbers we’re seeing out of these polls, the numbers of Americans who believe that Joe Biden is not the actual president, the numbers of people who agree that violence against the government is sometimes justified, and again that’s millions of people, what is the White House doing about this? I mean, I texted a senior official the other day and they didn’t even get back to me. Are – can they do anything?
PHILIP RUCKER [WASHINGTON POST SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT]: Well, they’re limited, Katy, in what they can do. President Biden campaigned on restoring and protecting democracy, he said that would be a hallmark of his presidency. And, you know, clearly the administration would like voting rights to pass in the Congress in the coming weeks. Obviously that’s been a priority for some time that has slipped behind infrastructure, behind Build Back Better, has lost momentum on Capitol Hill. And I think there’s going to be an effort in the coming days to use the anniversary of January 6th to revive that.
But passing a voting rights bill is simply not enough to protect, to fortify democracy, given what we’re hearing in public opinion surveys and what, frankly, we’re seeing with our own eyes around the country, the fact that tens of millions of Americans continue to believe the election was rigged when there is no evidence to support that claim.
(...)
2:34 PM ET
TUR: There are a lot of people who think that 2024 is gonna be violent. When you're talking to your sources about this, I mean, there’s – beyond just the White House – where do we stand?
BETSY WOODDRUFF SWAN [POLITICO NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT]: It’s hard to see January 6th as anything other than a harbinger of significant threats. But it’s also important to remember something people night not have thought about or might not be front of mind for many folks who saw what unfolded that day. It’s important to remember that this country has a long and troubling history of political violence. And in recent years, national security experts have concluded, frankly, just from tallying up the number of casualties, that the threat from domestic terrorism is a greater threat to the homeland than the threat that international terrorism posed.
(...)
2:36 PM ET
TUR: When you talk to your national security sources, Betsy, beyond just the Capitol itself, are there any – is there anything being gamed out for 2024 – “If ‘X’ happens, we’re gonna do ‘Y’?” If there is another violent insurrection with millions of people or thousands of people, if there are more armed people who try to forcefully take over state houses, et cetera, is there a contingency plan being sorted for 2024?
WOODDRUFF SWAN: That’s a great question. I don’t have knowledge of a specific contingency plan. But what I can tell you is that one of the key focuses for people in the national security space, which is not particularly sexy but which became incredibly important in the wake of January 6th, is information sharing between state and local law enforcement officials and between the feds.
(...)
2:38 PM ET
TUR: I hate having to talk about this with you guys because it is scary, but it’s something we all need to face head-on because it’s coming at us.
