Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog
On Monday's The 11th Hour show, MSNBC host Brian Williams portrayed it as an act of "courage and patriotism" for Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski to oppose the confirmation of a Republican to the U.S. Supreme Court before the election as he wondered if Senator Mitt Romney might join them.
After playing a clip of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham declaring on Fox News Channel that he will push the confirmation process immediately to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Williams looked cynical as he responded:
That's the chairman of the (Senate) Judiciary Committee, Lindsey Graham, earlier tonight on Fox News. You heard the man -- he's got the votes. We just don't have any idea who the nominee will be. Over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not rule out impeachment as a way to delay Trump's nominee if Biden wins. It's a mess.
As he then introduced his guests -- liberal MSNBC contributor Jason Johnson and former Romney advisor Lanhee Chen -- to discuss the issue, Williams made a crack about the HHS Department no longer being a "credible" part of the federal government:
Lanhee Chen is back with us as well -- research fellow over at the Hoover Institution, former policy director for the Romney/Ryan 2012 effort -- more on that in a bit -- and, notably, a former senior official with the Department of Health and Human Services, who is old enough to remember when it was a credible arm of government.
After Johnson talked up the possibility that the confirmation fight would benefit Democrats politically and might lead Republicans to back off confirmation of a new justice if Democrats win a big election victory, Williams went to Chen and asked if Romney might have enough "patriotism" to oppose a nominee of his own party: "Lanhee, about your former boss, Mitt Romney, what's the chance he gathers up all of his courage and patriotism and joins (Susan) Collins and (Lisa) Murkowski?"
A bit later, after Williams played a clip of Senator Graham from October 2018 promising not to confirm a vacancy during the 2016 election, Johnson got in some more shots at Senator Graham, declaring that he has always been a "hypocrite." Johnson:
Brian, it was hard to hear that audio over the sounds of Jaime Harrison catching up with him in the polls. Look, I'm not surprised that Lindsey Graham is a hypocrite. He's a survivalist by all levels. And the aggression by which he's talking about putting Trump's nominee and having a vote before 2020, is because for the first time in 20 years in his political life, he is in danger -- he's actually facing real competition in Jaime Harrison.
He later reiterated: "But Lindsey Graham being a hypocrite, he's been that guy for most of his career."
This episode of The 11th Hour with Brian Williams was sponsored by Safe Step. Their contact information is linked.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Monday, September 21, The 11th Hour with Brian Williams on MSNBC:
11:35 p.m.
SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC) (appearing on Fox News): We've got the votes to confirm Justice Ginsburg's replacement before the election -- we're going to move forward in the committee -- we're going to report the nomination out of the committee to the floor of the United States Senate so that we can vote before the election. That's the constitutional process. After Kavanaugh, everything changed with me -- they're not going to intimidate me, Mitch McConnell, or anybody else.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: That's the chairman of the (Senate) Judiciary Committee, Lindsey Graham, earlier tonight on Fox News. You heard the man -- he's got the votes. We just don't have any idea who the nominee will be. Over the weekend, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not rule out impeachment as a way to delay Trump's nominee if Biden wins.
It's a mess, and for more, I'm joined by Jason Johnson -- veteran journalist, contributor over at The Grio, and a professor at Morgan State University. Lanhee Chen is back with us as well -- research fellow over at the Hoover Institution, former policy director for the Romney/Ryan 2012 effort -- more on that in a bit -- and, notably, a former senior official with the Department of Health and Human Services, who is old enough to remember when it was a credible arm of government.
(...)
Lanhee, about your former boss, Mitt Romney, what's the chance he gathers up all of his courage and patriotism and joins (Susan) Collins and (Lisa) Murkowski?
(...)
SENATOR GRAHAM (from October 2018): If an opening comes in the last year of President Trump's term, and the primary process has started, we'll wait until the next election. And I've got a pretty good chance of being the --
JEFFREY GOLDBERG, THE ATLANTIC: But you're on the record?
SENATOR GRAHAM: Yeah.
GOLDBERG: All right.
SENATOR GRAHAM: Hold the tape
WILLIAMS: Jason, how shocked are you that he's not keeping his word?
JASON JOHNSON, THE GRIO: Brian, it was hard to hear that audio over the sounds of Jaime Harrison catching up with him in the polls. Look, I'm not surprised that Lindsey Graham is a hypocrite. He's a survivalist by all levels. And the aggression by which he's talking about putting Trump's nominee and having a vote before 2020, is because for the first time in 20 years in his political life, he is in danger -- he's actually facing real competition in Jaime Harrison.
But I think right now it's a lot of bluster. I don't think Lindsey Graham or Mitch McConnell can guarantee that this vote will occur before the election. And, depending on what happens in the election, you may have more Republicans who are concerned or apprehensive about the decision of choosing someone if Donald Trump has moved out of office. But Lindsey Graham being a hypocrite, he's been that guy for most of his career.