On Friday morning, CNN White House correspondent John Harwood's hostility toward Republicans was on full display as he declared that they "would go smack their own moms in the face" if they were pressured to do so by Donald Trump. Harwood's vitriol about violence came during a discussion of the support Trump is getting from many congressional Republicans in challenging the presidential election results in court.
After host Kate Bolduan recalled that 106 House Republicans are supporting the President's efforts in one lawsuit, she went to Harwood and posed: "When you look at that list, this is more than half of the Republicans in the House. And, to be clear, there are members on the list backing the lawsuit who were elected in the very states that they want to see the presidential votes thrown out in. They're not questioning their own election wins, though."
The CNN correspondent quickly tore into Republicans as he responded:
They're not. But what we're seeing, Kate, is a demonstration by House Republicans of the extent of the rot inside the Republican party right now. These people know what Donald Trump is -- as Ted Cruz said in 2016, he's a pathological liar. Marco Rubio called him a con artist. But because they're afraid of him and afraid of the supporters that he holds the loyalty of, and because the only principle that matters to them is holding onto power, they've agreed to sign on to this preposterous lawsuit aimed at throwing out the votes in other states, in four battleground states.
Harwood then sneered: "And these are people who, if Donald Trump said, "I'm going to trash you on Twitter unless you go smack your mom in the face," they would go smack their moms in the face and try to explain it to them afterwards. In reality, what they're doing is smacking American democracy in the face."
He went on to predict legal problems for Trump over an investigation launched by the state of New York.
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CNN Newsroom
December 11, 2020
11:08 a.m. EasternKATE BOLDUAN: We mentioned the Supreme Court lawsuit at the top of the show. Now, President Trump's continued efforts to overturn the results of the election is getting the full support from a clear majority of Republicans in the House. We're going to scroll through this list for you, but it's 106 House Republicans now backing a lawsuit that originated from Texas -- the Texas attorney general that wants the Supreme Court to throw out the votes of millions of Americans in four battleground states that the President lost.
This morning, Texas filed its reply to the Supreme Court defending its lawsuit. So we really are standing by to see what the high court decides. Let me bring in CNN's John Harwood. He's live at the White House for more on this. John, when you look at that list, this is more than half of the Republicans in the House. And, to be clear, there are members on the list backing the lawsuit who were elected in the very states that they want to see the presidential votes thrown out in. They're not questioning their own election wins, though.
JOHN HARWOOD: They're not. But what we're seeing, Kate, is a demonstration by House Republicans of the extent of the rot inside the Republican party right now. These people know what Donald Trump is -- as Ted Cruz said in 2016, he's a pathological liar. Marco Rubio called him a con artist. But because they're afraid of him and afraid of the supporters that he holds the loyalty of, and because the only principle that matters to them is holding onto power, they've agreed to sign on to this preposterous lawsuit aimed at throwing out the votes in other states, in four battleground states. And these are people who, if Donald Trump said, "I'm going to trash you on Twitter unless you go smack your mom in the face," they would go smack their moms in the face and try to explain it to them afterwards. In reality, what they're doing is smacking American democracy in the face.
BOLDUAN: It's pretty remarkable. I just don't see a universe where this changes in 40 days when the President leaves office.
HARWOOD: No, it's not going to change. I mean, the occupant of the White House is going to change. Donald Trump is going to leave. We'll see whether not being president diminishes his grip on them, those members or his followers. He's going to have a lot of problems. We learned today about a criminal investigation in New York City by Cy Vance is accelerating. He's interviewing Trump's bankers and insurance brokers. So Trump may have plenty of problems that will cause the Republican party to be less afraid of him, but we don't know that yet.
