MSNBC Republican Slams 'Rank Hypocrisy' of GOP Over Supreme Court

bradwilmouth | September 21, 2020
Font Size

Cross posted to the MRC's NewsBusters blog

Appearing as a guest on Sunday's Velshi show, MSNBC contributor Rick Tyler demonstrated once again that, when a Republican signs on to work for MSNBC out of opposition to their own party over just one or two issues -- like opposing Donald Trump -- it ends up pervading into their commentary on every issue.

Instead of making some obvious points in defense of Republican eagerness to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat on the U.S. Supreme Court immediately, he instead argued that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell should have allowed a vote on Merrick Garland four years ago, and decried his fellow Republicans for showing "rank hypocrisy."

To undermine his own party, he even misleadingly recalled that former Justice Anthony Kennedy was confirmed during an election year without mentioning that the vacancy occurred in July 1987, but took until February 1988 to fill because Democrats rejected President Ronald Reagan's first choice, Robert Bork, in an unusually partisan fight by Senate Democrats.

Host Ali Velshi introduced the segment by wondering whether Never Trumper Republicans would become more supportive of President Trump over the Supreme Court issue during the push to replace Ginsburg, and brought aboard the right-leaning Tyler.

As he began by noting the arguments that are likely to be made both sides, the right-leaning contributor then started pushing the Democratic point of view:

But, look, the court -- let me take Barack Obama's example. He nominated Merrick Garland who didn't get a hearing -- I think that was wrong. And that was an election year. By the way, this whole election year thing is a fantasy, and it's also a fiction that the Republicans made up in 2016 because they didn't want to appoint -- give Merrick Garland a fair hearing. In fact, we have many cases where justices were both appointed or nominated and confirmed in an election years, including William Taft in 1912. Woodrow Wilson nominated two judges in the election year of 1916.

Surprisingly, the stridently liberal Velshi stepped in to push back on Tyler citing cases from so long ago: "Look, I haven't had hair since that's happened. I mean, that's ancient history."

Tyler then made his misleading reference to Justice Kennedy's confirmation, and further argued that Garland should have been given more of a chance by Republicans in 2016:

Well, Ronald Reagan -- Ronald Reagan appointed in 1988 -- an election year -- Anthony Kennedy -- and so that's just a fiction. And now we're here, and Republicans say they didn't believe what they said in 2016, and that is just rank hypocrisy. But the truth is, Ali, is that Merrick Garland and Neil Gorsuch both served on the D.C. Circuit Court, and there's not a dime's worth of ideological difference between them. And that's just a fact -- you can just go look at their writings.

An analyst who was actually interested in giving a more balanced presentation could have pointed out that, over the past few decades, Democrats have helped lead the push toward more partisan confirmation fights, and would likely have done the same thing in both 2016 and 2020 if the roles had been reversed, as evidenced by Senator Joe Biden in 1992 suggesting as much.

In fact, then-Senate Judiciary Committee chair Biden did block future Supreme Court Justice John Roberts from being appointed to the Court of Appeals after he was nominated by President George H.W. Bush in January 1992.

In fact, a look at confirmation votes going back decades shows a trend toward Senate Democrats showing more opposition to Republican nominees like Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, and, to a lesser extent, John Roberts, as opposed to Republicans showing less opposition to Democratic picks like Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

And, in 2013, it was Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid who ended the filibuster for federal court confirmations.

But a balanced presentation that includes the conservative point of view is too much to expect on MSNBC, even from an allegedly right-leaning analyst.

This episode of MSNBC's Velshi show was sponsored by Land Rover. Their contact information is linked.

Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, September 20, Velshi on MSNBC:

8:31 a.m. Eastern

ALI VELSHI: The prospect of Donald Trump nominating a third conservative judge to the already ideologically lopsided bench energizes conservatives, but it begs the question: Will the so-called "never Trumpers" -- the conservatives, the Republicans who want to get rid of Trump -- reverse their efforts to get him out of office for this, a chance to influence the character of the most important court for the ages? Joining me now, Rick Tyler. He's a Republican strategist -- he's an MSNBC political analyst -- he's the author of Still Right: An Immigrant-Loving, Hybrid-Driving, Composting American Makes the Case for Conservatism. So I put it to you, my old friend: Do the Never Trumpers say "Hold on a second, we don't really like Trump, but another seat on the Supreme Court -- that is too much to give up."

RICK TYLER, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning, Ali. Look, I write in my book about the court and the appointment of judges, and, many times, it's just very much overblown. So the next few weeks, we're going to hear, you know, how Trump's nominee is a terrible person, is the devil -- and you're going to hear the opposite from the other side. And that has certainly been the case. But, look, the court -- let me take Barack Obama's example. He nominated Merrick Garland who didn't get a hearing -- I think that was wrong. And that was an election year. By the way, this whole election year thing is a fantasy, and it's also a fiction that the Republicans made up in 2016 because they didn't want to appoint -- give Merrick Garland a fair hearing. In fact, we have many cases where justices were both appointed or nominated and confirmed in an election years, including William Taft in 1912. Woodrow Wilson nominated two judges in the election year of 1916.

VELSHI: Look, I haven't had hair since that's happened. I mean, that's ancient history.

TYLER: Well, Ronald Reagan -- Ronald Reagan appointed in 1988 -- an election year -- Anthony Kennedy -- and so that's just a fiction. And now we're here, and Republicans say they didn't believe what they said in 2016, and that is just rank hypocrisy. But the truth is, Ali, is that Merrick Garland and Neil Gorsuch both served on the D.C. Circuit Court, and there's not a dime's worth of ideological difference between them. And that's just a fact -- you can just go look at their writings.

donate