CNN host Don Lemon claimed on Monday night that if the Democrats were in control of the Senate that they would give President Donald Trump a Supreme Court justice right now — leaving CNN’s Chris Cuomo stunned. Later in the segment, Cuomo had to explain the Constitution to Lemon after Lemon suggested radical measures in a hypothetical rant that would be needed to change the system.
“Let me ask you something,” Cuomo said. “If the Democrats were in control of the Senate right now, and Trump was president, and he wanted to nominate a justice, what do you think they’d they say?”
“I think they’d do exactly what they did in 2016,” Lemon responded after a mix-up with Cuomo. “You can say what you want about Democrats. Democrats usually wet the bed. They are not as strategic when it comes to politics.
“You think they give Trump a justice after what happened with Merrick Garland?” Cuomo asked.
“Yes,” Lemon exclaimed. “I think they’d abide by, well, it’s different because Democrats did not make the promise. You keep comparing things that aren’t equal. Democrats did not make the same promise in 2016.”
“Until you have a group of people that decide to consistently be better than what they reject, you’re going to have people in the exact position they are right now,” Cuomo added several moments later. “Which is no matter what happens, everybody sticks with the team.”
“Then we’re going to have to blow up the entire system,” Lemon said in a hypothetical sense. “And you know what we’re going to have to do? … You’re going to have to get rid of the electoral college, because the minority in this country decides who the judges are and they decide who the president is. Is that fair? … If Joe Biden wins, Democrats can stack the courts and they can do that amendment and get it passed.”
Cuomo then had to explain to Lemon that in order to do that there would have to be a constitutional amendment to do that, which requires an overwhelming majority of support in Congress and in state legislatures.
WATCH:
So stupid even Fredo can't believe what he's hearing. Don Lemon actually argued that if roles were reversed and Dems controlled the Senate, they would let Trump nominate his SCOTUS pick.
Adding: "We're going to have to blow up the entire system" because minority GOP have a voice. pic.twitter.com/E6BHbPZLNq— Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) September 22, 2020
Reza Aslan, who used to have a show on CNN, responded to the news of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing by writing on Twitter: “If they even TRY to replace RBG we burn the entire f***ing thing down.”
TRANSCRIPT:
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: If they rush it, I actually think it will backfire.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Let me ask you something. If the Democrats were in control of the Senate right now, and Trump was president, and he wanted to nominate a justice, what do you think they’d they say?
LEMON: Well, I think they’d do the same thing they did in 2016. They’d do it. That’s what they did.
CUOMO: That’s right, that’s my point. That’s why nobody cares what the Democrats are saying now.
LEMON: No, no, no. I think they’d do exactly what they did in 2016. You can say what you want about Democrats. Democrats usually wet the bed. They are not as strategic when it comes to politics.
CUOMO: You think they give Trump a justice after what happened with Merrick Garland?
LEMON: Yes. I think they’d abide by, well, it’s different because Democrats did not make the promise. You keep comparing things that aren’t equal. Democrats did not make the same promise in 2016.
CUOMO: It wasn’t a promise. It wasn’t a promise, it was a BS rationale to explain what they were doing to–
LEMON: Semantics. Semantics. They didn’t allow his nominee to go through. They wouldn’t even have a hearing. They said, ‘we’re not going to do it.’ So that wasn’t Democrats doing that, that was Republicans doing it. And if you [inaudible] on this side, I don’t know what Democrats would do.
CUOMO: Democrats back in 2016–
LEMON: It would not mean that they were being hypocritical, if they did it.
CUOMO: They are being hypocritical.
LEMON: Chris, they would have the same stance.
CUOMO: No, they don’t. Klobuchar and Biden back then, not Biden, Klobuchar and others back then were saying, ‘you’ve got to have a full bench. you gotta have a full bench.’
LEMON: Because of what the Republicans did in 2016. Democrats didn’t do that in 2016, if Democrats actually put the person, wanted the person that was in the office now, to do it they would be making the same choice. They would be consistent with their principles.
CUOMO: I don’t know that. And I think that most people don’t agree with that idea, which is why they don’t care about the difference between left and right. See, until you have a group of people that decide to consistently be better than what they reject, you’re going to have people in the exact position they are right now. Which is no matter what happens, everybody sticks with the team.
LEMON: We’re going to have to blow up the entire system. And you know what we’re going to have to do? … You’re going to have to get rid of the electoral college, because the minority in this country decides who the judges are and they decide who the president is. Is that fair? … If Joe Biden wins, Democrats can stack the courts and they can do that amendment and get it passed.