New York Times senior political reporter Maggie Haberman kicked off ABC’s This Week’s "Powerhouse Roundtable" with some hilarious irony on Sunday morning. With a straight face, Haberman claimed that the Republican Party is conducting a “purging of anybody who goes against a certain orthodoxy.” Apparently unaware that her own party is doing the same thing by primarying the few “moderate” members it has left.
When discussing the ongoing Senate negotiations on gun control, anchor George Stephanopoulos turned to Haberman and remarked “talk about moral courage Maggie Haberman, Chris Jacobs, Republican Congressman from New York comes out for an assault weapons ban after the Buffalo shooting he has to drop out of his race.”
Haberman whined “it's a really remarkable moment in the Republican Party. It’s essentially a purging of anybody who goes against a certain orthodoxy.” Referring to Jacobs’s New York congressional district, she complained “there's a gun culture, it's not entirely surprising that it has become this litmus test issue in this direction.”
Pretending that her own party isn’t currently issuing litmus tests for the “Green New Deal” or defunding the police, Haberman wailed “it's not entirely surprising that it has become this litmus test issue in this direction is really I think the course of the last decade and it speaks to why there's inaction in Washington.”
Haberman dramatically added that “we are in an extreme moment.”
Later on in the segment, Stephanopoulos asked fellow panelist and former New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie to respond to what Haberman was saying. Proving that he’s a Democrat Party propagandist and not a news anchor, Stephanopoulos claimed “it does appear there's been a hardening in the Republican Party around this issue.”
Christie shot back that “there’s been a hardening on both sides” and Joe Biden’s “speech this week reflected that as well on the Democratic side.”
“People in each party have decided there's no compromise here, because there's no one on the other side willing to compromise. And they say that about each other and point fingers both ways” Christie added before Stephanopoulos jumped back in and disputed Christie’s characterization that both sides refuse to compromise.
“Is this really a both sides issue though?” Stephanopoulos whined.
Christie correctly responded that Biden’s rhetoric on guns has poisoned the well: “I think both sides create the atmosphere, so when the President is saying the stuff he said in his speech the other evening this week, and the emotion that he says it with, he's essentially trying to imply people who disagree with him are immoral.”
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To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
ABC’s This Week
6/5/2022
9:09:02 a.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: You talk about moral courage Maggie Haberman, Chris Jacobs, Republican Congressman from New York comes out for an assault weapons ban after the Buffalo shooting he has to drop out of his race.
MAGGIE HABERMAN: It's a really remarkable moment in the Republican Party. It’s essentially a purging of anybody who goes against a certain orthodoxy. And that is a district where there's a gun culture, it's not entirely surprising that it has become this litmus test issue in this direction is really I think the course of the last decade and it speaks to why there's inaction in Washington. On the point about the President, the current President is dealing with a very bad hand, there's no question. In terms of how frozen things are in D.C. This is why there are some Democrats who are pushing him to take a different kind of action. To do something by executive order and let people challenge it in courts because it would be a recognition that we are in an extreme moment.
(...)
STEPHANOPOULOS: Chris Christie, pick up on what Maggie was saying we talked about guns as a voting issue, but it does appear there's been a hardening in the Republican Party around this issue.
CHRIS CHRISTIE: Well, I think there’s been a hardening on both sides, George, I think the President's speech this week reflected that as well on the Democratic side. And Maggie's comments about potentially taking an executive action. Which is a dubious thing to do from a legal perspective, shows the hardening on the left as well. And I think it's a constant symptom of where we are in the country right now, this is one issue that that's an example of but there are many others, where people in each party have decided there's no compromise here, because there's no one on the other side willing to compromise. And they say that about each other and point fingers both ways.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Is this really a both sides issue though?
CHRISTIE: No I do. George, I think both sides create the atmosphere, so when the President is saying the stuff he said in his speech the other evening this week, and the emotion that he says it with, he's essentially trying to imply people who disagree with him are immoral. And I think when you start raising it to that level you better win, because if you don't the other side will never move towards you, ever, if you're going to say this is purely a moral issue, if you don't agree with me then you're immoral.
