A Republican politician and economic adviser to President Donald Trump had a meltdown on “CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip” last week, raging about how wrong it is that states count mail-in ballots after election day. But what really sent the internet into a spiral was the way another panelist reacted to her rant.
The talk on the show Friday, Jan. 2, that sent former New York Lt. Gov. Betsy McCaughey over the edge was a discussion on the midterms coming up in November this year.
Journalist and political commentator Charles M. Blow said he has concerns about whether the election will be “free and fair,” given Trump’s attempts this past year to influence it.
The president demanded red states redraw congressional voting maps to favor Republicans, which several have done, including Texas and Missouri, hoping to win more seats. The GOP currently controls both the House and Senate, but only has a razor-thin majority in the House. Traditionally, the party in power during midterm elections generally loses seats.
The blue state of California also redrew its map, hoping to counter Texas’ move.
“We already know that there are election deniers that have been elected to boards all around the country,” Blow said. “We already know that the DOJ has requested from 40 states voter-sensitive voter data and sued 20-plus states for not providing it. And we have no idea what all of that will mean for —” he tried to continue before an irate McCaughey yelled over him.
“Excuse me. They want to clean up the voter rolls, take the dead people off the rolls,” she ranted, but she wasn’t finished.
“And, by the way, the Supreme Court will be deciding a case in June about mail-in ballots and the preposterous notion that you can keep — that you can count ballots that arrived after the election,” she screamed.
That’s when host Abby Phillip tried to check her, “OK, which we do all the time for people who live overseas —” she tried to get a word in edgewise.
“And we should not be doing that,” McCaughey raged.
“And military members,” Phillip said, trying to speak over her.
Trump has long tried to dismantle the mail-in ballot system, starting in his first term before the 2020 presidential election, by attempting to close down the United States Postal Service to prevent mail-in voting because he believed, with some justification, that the mail-in vote generally skews toward Democrats. He did not succeed.
But now he’s taken a different tack, going through the Supreme Court with a case in which the Republican National Committee is challenging the state of Mississippi. The high court will decide this term whether states like Mississippi can count mail-in ballots after Election Day.
Some 18 states and territories allow mail-in ballots to be counted after Election Day as long as they’re postmarked by that day, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Now it’s expected to take longer for the USPS to postmark all mail due to new rules that took effect on Christmas Eve. The new rule deals with postmarks. Traditionally, it means the day a piece of mail is dropped off. Now PBS reported it means the date the item is processed by the USPS, which may not be the day it’s dropped off.
Trump has repeatedly claimed over the past five years without any evidence that voter fraud connected to mail-in ballots cost him the 2020 election, according to the BBC.
Back in August, he said he was writing an executive order “to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt,” the BBC reported.
But what social media loved about the exchange was Blow’s reaction. The former New York Times columnist calmly sipped from his mug as McCaughey continued her rant.
Blow posted the clip to Instagram with the caption, “Yes, I’m just the type of shady that you love. You’re welcome. Lol.” And he wrote over the video, “…’you need some tea.’”
That sent social media into hysterics. Some users posted memes of tea drinkers or commented with laughing emojis.
“I don’t know how you didn’t spit that tea out,” an Instagram user joked. “She is exhausting herself,” another pointed out. “Diabolical!” another declared. The way I just lost it. 😂LMAO! Damn, Charles. lol,” another wrote.
Other states that could consider redistricting to try to gain new seats in Congress this year include Florida, Virginia, Illinois, Kansas and Maryland, according to The Hill.
