CNN's Chris Cuomo approached peak ridiculousness on his Friday show where he accused the Supreme Court of reciting Russian propaganda, but by the end of his lengthy monologue, it was Cuomo who showed is ignorance of the Court's recent rulings.
Cuomo began his speech with a heartfelt, but non-sensical tribute to his viewers, "Truth matters, especially in the closing days of this election. Scenes like this that we're going to show you right now, these are the truth. Millions of you, each of you, is an act of truth, standing in ridiculously long lines all over the country. We should be better than this."
That truth, according to Cuomo:
Outweighs the most powerful man on the planet pushing a dangerous lie about the illegitimacy of this election, one now being echoed from his first two appointees on the court, and by foreign adversaries alike. Whoever thought we would see that alliance? Supreme Court justices saying the same thing the Russians want us to believe, that democracy will explode at 11:59 Tuesday night if the winner isn't known.
At this point custom would require a chyron with a parenthetical "That's not what the Supreme Court said." What Justice Kavanaugh actually said was that elections have to have an end date, not that the result must be known Tuesday night.
Cuomo, who was either lying or ignorant, of Kavanaugh's actual opinion, nevertheless used it to remind viewers that not knowing the result on Tuesday is not uncommon.
After this truism, Cuomo again showed his ignorance by highlighting the problem with the media's habit of describing Court cases in partisan terms, "The uncertainty about how the Supreme Court would rule is due to what we've seen in the last few weeks. We don't know any more in this new composition. The Supreme Court has said North Carolina can wait nine days, Pennsylvania can wait three, but Wisconsin can't wait six."
If Cuomo had actually bothered to do some basic research he would have found the Wisconsin case involved a federal court re-writing the state's election law whereas in the other two, they decided to let states deal with state law.
At the conclusion of his diatribe, Cuomo warned of the dreaded "red mirage," although not the equivalent blue mirage, "That's exactly the scenario that sets up perfectly for the president and those who support him: foreign and domestic. Why? Because it's a great opportunity, with this conflicting sense, this uncertainty, to seed division."
Perhaps, Cuomo should learn what the Supreme Court actually does and how it actually ruled before accusing others of seeding division and being no better than Russian propagandists.
This segment was sponsored by Fidelity.
Here is a transcript for the October 30 show:
CNN
Cuomo Prime Time
10/30/2020
9:28 PM ET
CHRIS CUOMO: Truth matters, especially in the closing days of this election. Scenes like this that we're going to show you right now, these are the truth. Millions of you, each of you, is an act of truth, standing in ridiculously long lines all over the country. We should be better than this. This is sending the wrong message about participation. However, your resolve is the
resiliency, is the power of what America can be. More than 86 million of you making your voice heard already. That power is bigger than any poll, any prediction, or any pundit. It even outweighs the most powerful man on the planet pushing a dangerous lie about the illegitimacy of this election, one now being echoed from his first two appointees on the court, and by foreign adversaries alike. Whoever thought we would see that alliance? Supreme Court justices saying the same thing the Russians want us to believe, that democracy will explode at 11:59 Tuesday night if the winner isn't known.As always, the best defense is the truth. In this case, again, you are the truth. Fact: we never have a final count on election night, period. We sometimes know who's going to win by the strength of the gap in the exit polls and what states report to us. But not knowing, it not being final, is a fact hardwired into federal law. December 8 is the so-called safe harbor deadline. That was the big issue in 2000, with Bush v. Gore. That's more than a month after the election. That's how long states have to sort it out before they appoint electors. The reason for that in between period? The states wouldn't have the votes in by Election Day. Twenty-one states and the District of Columbia allow postmarked ballots to arrive after election day. That includes some key battleground states: Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, which almost lost the right, and Texas. Minnesota not going to be on that list. The list was 22 states, until the ruling in Minnesota.
So there are a lot of states that have counting to do after the 3rd. Now, is it possible the counting they get done up through the 3rd creates some huge gap that they don't expect, can match the remaining ballots, the number remaining is not as much as what they see as a gap? Maybe, but it's not certain. The uncertainty about how the Supreme Court would rule is due to what we've seen in the last few weeks. We don't know any more in this new composition. The Supreme Court has said North Carolina can wait nine days, Pennsylvania can wait three, but Wisconsin can't wait six. The thing you need to keep in mind is there's a big difference between receiving ballots and reporting ballots, okay? New York and Alaska won't report any mail-in votes until election night. That doesn't mean you won't see those states called on Tuesday night. Why? Because journalists project the results based on multiple factors, okay?
Given what we saw with the polling in 2016, those projections are going to take longer this time, especially true in states where the race is going to be tighter. Where? Michigan, Pennsylvania. Officials there are already saying it could be days before we have enough information to make those calls. Why? The actual counting can vary depending on the county. Not everybody does it the same way. Example, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania: Solid for Trump in 2016. But officials there say they won't even start processing mail-in ballots until Wednesday. Because we know that Trump voters are expected to vote more on election day and Biden voters are expected to vote more by mail. That means if it seems like Trump has an early lead on Tuesday, you'll hear a lot of talk about a red mirage and maybe the possibility of a blue wave. Mirage and wave don't really go together but that's what it is. That's because early on you're likely only going to be looking at part of the picture. That's exactly the scenario that sets up perfectly for the president and those who support him: foreign and domestic. Why? Because it's a great opportunity, with this conflicting sense, this uncertainty, to seed division.
