On Monday’s episode of “The Michael Knowles Show,” Knowles went through a list of who to thank for getting us Justice Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. At the top of that list was former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
“We also have to thank the Democrats who filibustered Neil Gorsuch because this caused Cocaine Mitch to go nuclear on Neil Gorsuch,” said Knowles. “People forget this. They get a little confused on what the nuclear option means.”
“The nuclear option was first invoked by Harry Reid,” he explained. “He invoked it in 2013, because he wanted to ram through more of Barack Obama’s judges at the lower level. So, he said nope we no longer need a 60-vote majority to confirm judges. We’re gonna bring that down to a simple majority. As long as you get a simple majority, that’s fine. We can confirm the judges, and for years, senators had talked about doing this but they always backed away because they knew that when they’re out of power this is a very bad thing. But Harry Reid said I don’t care, I’m ramming Obama’s judges through.”
After playing a 2013 clip of GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell warning the Democrats that if they pushed the nuclear option through they would “regret” the decision, Knowles explained how the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh was directly impacted by this.
“That’s Cocaine Mitch McConnell in 2013. Prophetic words,” he said. “Totally prophetic words, because then when it came up with Neil Gorsuch, don’t forget, a lot of Democrats during this Kavanaugh circus have said, ‘Well look, Kavanagh is just a bad guy.’ So, he did it. He went nuclear for Supreme Court nominees, and that’s how we were able to get Judge Kavanagh through. It’s a great turn of events for us that actually didn’t hinge on this nomination.”
Video and transcript below:
Knowles: We also have to thank the Democrats who filibustered Neil Gorsuch because this caused a Cocaine Mitch to go nuclear on Neil Gorsuch. People forget this. They get a little confused on what the nuclear option means. Where, you know, the nuclear option was first invoked by Harry Reid. He invoked it in 2013, because he wanted to ram through more of Barack Obama’s judges at the lower level. So, he said nope we no longer need a 60-vote majority to confirm judges. We’re gonna bring that down to a simple majority. As long as you get a simple majority, that’s fine. We can confirm the judges and for years, senators had talked about doing this but they always backed away because they knew that when they’re out of power this is a very bad thing. But Harry Reid said I don’t care, I’m ramming Obama’s judges through. That’s fine. Cocaine Mitch, what are your thoughts on that?
Senator McConnell: “You’ll regret this, and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think.”
Knowles: “You’re gonna regret it my little friends on the other side of the aisle! You’re gonna regret it my little friends, a lot sooner than you think! A lot sooner! (Laughs)”
That’s Cocaine Mitch McConnell in 2013. Prophetic words. Totally prophetic words, because then when it came up with Neil Gorsuch, don’t forget, a lot of Democrats during this Kavanaugh circus have said well look Kavanagh is just a bad guy. Look, we weren’t this bad about Neil Gorsuch.
First of all, yes you were. You tried to filibuster him. But, second of all, the reason they didn’t create a hullabaloo and accuse him of gang rape in the 80s is because Neil Gorsuch was replacing Scalia. He was replacing the originalist judge, so it didn’t swing the balance of the court.
Who knows actually if Gorsuch is as rock-ribbed as Scalia. Time will tell.
So, it didn’t change the balance of the court. Now that you’re replacing Anthony Kennedy, the swing vote who sided with the left of the court on very important matters, you know, like the gay marriage decision, Obergfell for example.
When you’re replacing that guy it’s much different, because then you’ll actually have a conservative majority, an originalist majority on the court. So, they went after them. They go after Gorsuch. They filibuster Gorsuch. Mitch McConnell says well remember. When I said that you were gonna regret this sooner than you think? It’s now it’s sooner than you think.
So, he did it. He went nuclear for Supreme Court nominees and that’s how we were able to get Judge Kavanagh through. It’s a great turn of events for us that actually didn’t hinge on this nomination.