On Monday morning ahead of Tuesday’s almost certain Republican tsunami at the ballot box, ABC’s Good Morning America (GMA) and CBS Mornings moved away from a fixation on abortion or vague warnings about the fate of democracy if voters choose incorrectly.
Instead, they engaged in voter suppression by hinting a vote for Republicans could be enabling violent individuals who’d cause violence and/or cause serious doubts to be raised about our country’s future.
GMA co-host Amy Robach didn’t mince words, insisting there are “rising voting threats” as “[i]ntelligence officials say extremists could target election infrastructure, personnel, or even voting sites.”
Robach then teed up chief Justice correspondent Pierre Thomas: “[T]alk a little bit about what the threat environment is ahead of this election and another big question, can people be confident their vote will count?”
While Thomas insisted “there's no evidence of hacking” to prevent Americans from voting and having it count and “no specific plot identified,” he still played footsie with the fear-mongering about “domestic extremists...attack[ing] down the stretch” (click “expand”):
But [what] authorities are paying close attention that domestic extremists could attack down the stretch to the midterm elections. That assault against the speaker's husband was another wake-up call. No specific plot has been uncovered, but the amount of online chatter in the dark corners of social media does have them concerned? What's driving the anger? The hot-button issues that divide us and the potential of violence from radicals who embrace that lie that there's widespread election fraud, the kind of people who attacked on January 6.
A recent Homeland Security bulletin was blunt, warning, “perceptions of fraud and...reactions to divisive topics will likely drive sporadic...plotting of violence.” Again, no specific plot identified. I’ll call this bulletin precautionary. Just telling police to be aware that there could be isolated incidents.
CBS Mornings engaged in a little bit of self-contradiction as senior Washington correspondent Major Garrett told the table of leftists that “if Republicans win, that doesn't mean democracy's dead, doesn't mean nobody cares about it” as voters would have instead “prioritize[d] other things” like crime, the economy, and inflation “which, in a democracy, is your privilege.”
From here on out, however, reality was hard to come by.
A little while after co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King lamented voters weren’t grasping the “message” that democracy is in danger, she dismissed claims from CBS contributor and election lawyer David Becker that voting thus far has been safe and secure to insist, “many people are raising the possibility of violence actually at the polls and I think people are scared.”
King continued on that theme, citing allegations of individuals loitering near ballot drop boxes as “people armed, standing there at the polls watching.”
Co-host Nate Burleson joined in by calling it “scary stuff” given “the symbolism,” which led King to reiterate her deranged fears: “I think it’s very scary. I'm sitting home watching it, and I'm scared.”
Garrett gave credence to this nonsense by saying “[t]he atmosphere feels a little bit more tense,” but reminded these unconvinced leftists that “the early voting and much of it is in person, people are experiencing this in a safe, accessible way” and was “like to” be the case “on Tuesday.”
However, he gave them a morsel of credibility: “But can local law enforcement rule out the possibility of violence or people interfering? No, they can't. But they're much more sensitized to this than they were in 2020.”
Fill-in co-host John Dickerson further tried to case doubt on the country’s future, asking Becker to weigh in on the “spectrum” of “election deniers” (click “expand”):
DICKERSON: David, the election deniers who are participating in this election, can you put them on a spectrum for us? Because some of the election deniers have mumbled about the last election, that's all they've done. Others have a plan in place to not only deny the last election, but deny the one coming. Can you give us a sense of what that continuum is like?
BECKER: Yeah, sure. There are some who have basically just kind of paid some heed to the election denial claims and said, well, we don't know for sure who won. I think there were problems, things like that. That's bad enough because it leads to doubts in a system that people should feel secure about.
BURLESON: Right.
BECKER: But there are clearly some running on a platform of election denial, that the election was supposedly stolen —
BURLESON: Mmmm.
BECKER: — which, of course, it wasn't. And that they will act to try to put their thumb on the scale for their own candidates in future elections. I mean, we're hearing from some of them that they can't imagine that it's possible in a 50/50 country or a 50/50 state for the other side to win, or that they don't know anyone who voted for the other side, which probably says more about who they're hanging out with —
DICKERSON: Right.
BECKER: — than anything else, so those are the kinds of things we’ll need to watch for, if some of those, like, rigid election deniers end up winning on Election Day.
King then expressed confoundment that such Republicans could win: “If they win, what message does that send? What does that say about this country?”
Becker obliged these fears and argued “one of the things we have to do is some introspection after this election and to try to figure out what democracy really means to us.”
In other words, it’ll consist of liberals wondering why so many uninformed rubes out in the country won’t listen to us.
Becker continued to warn of a perilous future if Republicans are allowed to win:
Democracy is the way we resolve our disputes. We have legitimate policy disagreements in the United States. If we erode the guardrails of democracy so that we no longer have that framework to resolve our disputes, we’re going to be in trouble as a democracy.
Monday’s voter suppression efforts to influence the 2022 midterms was made possible thanks to the endorsement of advertisers such as Kohl’s (on ABC) and The Hartford (on CBS). Follow the links to see their contact information at the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back page.
To see the relevant transcripts from November 7, click “expand.”
ABC’s Good Morning America
November 7, 2022
7:10 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Happening Now; High Alert at the Polls; Intelligence Officials Warn of “Heightened Threat” From Domestic Extremists]
AMY ROBACH: And now to rising voting threats. Intelligence officials say extremists could target election infrastructure, personnel, or even voting sites. Our chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas joins us now. And, Pierre, talk a little bit about what the threat environment is ahead of this election and another big question, can people be confident their vote will count?
PIERRE THOMAS: Amy, good morning. There's good news, but also some news that's a bit unsettling. The good news, I recently spoke to the Homeland Security secretary and he said there's no evidence of hacking in any state or anything significant that should affect people's ability to go out and cast a vote and be confident it will counted. But [what] authorities are paying close attention that domestic extremists could attack down the stretch to the midterm elections. That assault against the speaker's husband was another wake-up call. No specific plot has been uncovered, but the amount of online chatter in the dark corners of social media does have them concerned? What's driving the anger? The hot-button issues that divide us and the potential of violence from radicals who embrace that lie that there's widespread election fraud, the kind of people who attacked on January 6. A recent Homeland Security bulletin was blunt, warning, “perceptions of fraud and...reactions to divisive topics will likely drive sporadic...plotting of violence.” Again, no specific plot identified. I’ll call this bulletin precautionary. Just telling police to be aware that there could be isolated incidents. George.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Okay, thank you, Pierre.
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CBS Mornings
November 7, 2022
8:02 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: America Decides Campaign ‘22; Candidates Make Final Midterm Push; Major Garrett & David Becker on Key Races & Election Security]
JOHN DICKERSON: Major, just set the table for us. Where do things stand for both the parties now?
MAJOR GARRETT: So, Democrats are on defense, and Republicans are on the ascent. And that's the psychology that both parties feel right now. But guess what? The voters are the in-between in that ascent defense. And the voters will tell us exactly what they care about and how much. They care about democracy. It shows up in every poll. There's anxiety and curiosity, how resilient is our structure? But if Republicans win, that doesn't mean democracy's dead, doesn't mean nobody cares about it. What it means they prioritize other things more which, in a democracy, is your privilege. If you say inflation means more to me or public safety/crime in my neighborhoods or someplace else or immigration and you vote that way, that's an ex-production of your prioritization and there’s nothing wrong with that.
NATE BURLESON: Right.
GAYLE KING: I think they care, but is that message landing or resonating with voters? It doesn’t seem to be, at this particular time.
GARRETT: So, the polling would indicate that you're right, Gayle.
KING: Mmhmm
GARRETT: One thing that I think is an X factor in the polling is we saw after the Dobbs decision this summer a large number of young women in this country register to vote for the first time. If you're polling and you’re looking for likely voters, you're not screening those because they're newly registered, they've not voted before, they’re not going to be on your likely voter screen. If those registered new voters show up, that could be an X-factor tomorrow night.
BURLESON: David, a lot is being made about the security of the 2020 election. So, what should we expect when it comes to counting ballots now?
DAVID BECKER: Right. First of all, the 2020 election that we just came from was the most secure, transparent, and verified, scrutinized election in American history.
BURLESON: Not everybody is saying that.
BECKER: That — not everyone is, but it's the facts.
GARRETT: Doesn't make it any less true, right?
BECKER: Yeah.
KING: Right.
BECKER: And 2022 is even more so. We've had over 40 million people vote in convenience and safety already. That number is likely to grow in terms of early and mail-in voting, perhaps as high as 60 million. We might have record turnout for a midterms. So, election officials have got this. They’re doing a really good job. People are going to find that, when they go to vote if they chose to vote on Tuesday rather than having voted early, they’re going to vote in safety and convenience. There might be lines, that's normal. We always have them.
BURLESON: But should not worry about security.
BECKER: No, not at all. The security of the system is really intact. Now, what happens after 8:00 p.m. is that, you know, the — the election officials are going to be counting the ballots.
BURLESON: Okay.
BECKER: That's going to take some time. That's always the way it's been. It always takes some time and particularly when we have narrow margins, we get a little antsy, right? We want what's going to happen. I want to know what happens. But let the — election officials, these are your neighbors, your community members, your fellow citizens, let them do their job. We have very complex ballots in the United States. Multiple pages, dozens of races. Let them do their jobs. It might take a few days.
KING: But many people are raising the possibility of violence actually at the polls and I think people are scared. You see people armed, standing there at the polls watching.
BURELSON: That's scary stuff, Gayle.
KING: I think it’s very scary.
BURLESON: The symbolism is just —
KING: I'm sitting home watching it, and I'm scared.
GARRETT: The atmosphere feels a little bit more tense.
KING: Yeah.
GARRETT: There's no question about that. To David's point, the early voting and much of it is in person, people are experiencing this in a safe, accessible way.
KING: Okay.
GARRETT: But what I want to emphasize is that, for most Americans — 99.9 percent of all Americans, that's how they're experiencing this process. And that's how they are likely to experience it on Tuesday. But can local law enforcement rule out the possibility of violence or people interfering? No, they can't. But they're much more sensitized to this than they were in 2020.
BECKER: And I should just add really quickly. I'm talking to election officials all over the country, and they're very attuned to this.
KING: Okay.
BECKER: They are ready. They are prepared. They're making sure one of their primary goals is the safety of the voters as they go to vote.
KING: Right.
BECKER: I think voters are going to find that works.
GARRETT: For example, real quickly, say there's a bomb threat at a precinct, they have to close it down, they’ve already got a back up plan on where to move it and how to adapt.
BURLESON: Okay.
GARRETT: They've really thought through the process to be ready for the unexpected.
DICKERSON: David, the election deniers who are participating in this election, can you put them on a spectrum for us? Because some of the election deniers have mumbled about the last election, that's all they've done. Others have a plan in place to not only deny the last election, but deny the one coming. Can you give us a sense of what that continuum is like?
BECKER: Yeah, sure. There are some who have basically just kind of paid some heed to the election denial claims and said, well, we don't know for sure who won. I think there were problems, things like that. That's bad enough because it leads to doubts in a system that people should feel secure about.
BURLESON: Right.
BECKER: But there are clearly some running on a platform of election denial, that the election was supposedly stolen —
BURLESON: Mmmm.
BECKER: — which, of course, it wasn't. And that they will act to try to put their thumb on the scale for their own candidates in future elections. I mean, we're hearing from some of them that they can't imagine that it's possible in a 50/50 country or a 50/50 state for the other side to win, or that they don't know anyone who voted for the other side, which probably says more about who they're hanging out with —
DICKERSON: Right.
BECKER: — than anything else, so those are the kinds of things we’ll need to watch for, if some of those, like, rigid election deniers end up winning on Election Day.
KING: If they win, what message does that send? What does that say about this country?
BECKER: Well, I think — you know, one of the things we have to do is some introspection after this election and to try to figure out what democracy really means to us. Democracy is the way we resolve our disputes. We have legitimate policy disagreements in the United States. If we erode the guardrails of democracy so that we no longer have that framework to resolve our disputes, we’re going to be in trouble as a democracy.
KING: Now, President Trump has said that — former President Trump has said he's going to have some very, very, very, very, very good news after this election. What impact — we're all — we’re taking that to mean he's going to announce he's going to run.
GARRETT: There's every expectation that he will announce —
KING: He will.
GARRETT: — at some point one or two weeks after this midterm election. I think it's earlier if the Republicans do, from their perspective, better than they're currently imagined to do. I think he gets in as fast as possible.
KING: Do you think it’ll affect the vote tomorrow?
GARRETT: So, I think — I know Republicans who I've talked to have been like, I wish we were not having this wedge conversation about anticipating a Trump bid for re-election. They want to keep this on inflation, public safety, immigration, and the like, and change, not have former President Trump in there. But, of course, he always decides for himself, and the default is more me, less Republican Party.
