Meet the Press host Kristen Welker did a surprisingly good job shutting down House Speaker Mike Johnson's pathetic attempt at peddling Trump's 2020 election lies.
We all know Republicans are doing whatever they can to prevent the midterm elections from being a bloodbath for them, and are willing to cheat, gerrymander, purge voter rolls, make it harder to vote, or even go raid election offices as we just saw Trump's corrupt FBI do this past week when they seized ballots in Fulton County Georgia:
While the nation’s attention was focused on the ICE invasion of Minneapolis, another part of Trump’s authoritarian state apparatus was in action more than a thousand miles away. On Wednesday 28 January, the FBI carried out a stunning raid at the central election facility in Fulton county, Georgia.
Its purpose: to seize ballots cast in the 2020 election. Such an action is unprecedented.
In another unprecedented development, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, was on the scene when the FBI carried out its raid. The New York Times quotes a “senior administration official” who explained her presence by saying Gabbard “has a pivotal role in election security and protecting the integrity of our elections against interference, including operations targeting voting systems, databases, and election infrastructure”.
The deployment of such firepower shows the lengths to which the president is willing to go to press his claim that the 2020 election was rigged and to lay the groundwork for the seizure of ballots in 2026. The seizure of ballots in Georgia is like a shot across the bow.
Johnson was asked about the raid and pathetically tried to pretend that what the FBI did was justified, because the 2020 election was "very controversial," and was immediately shut down by Welker who wasn't abiding his nonsense for once.
KRISTEN WELKER: But let me ask you about what’s happening in Georgia this week. FBI agents executed a warrant at an election hub in Fulton County, seizing ballots and records tied to the 2020 election. I want you to listen to what Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia had to say about this search. Take a look.
[BEGIN TAPE]
SEN. JON OSSOFF: And here’s the thing. This is a shot across the bow at the midterm elections. He tried to steal power when he lost it in 2020. We have to be prepared for all kinds of schemes and shenanigans. We have to be prepared for him to try to deprive people of their voting rights in Georgia.
[END TAPE]
KRISTEN WELKER: What do you say to that allegation that President Trump is going to meddle in the 2026 midterm elections? That that’s what he’s doing in Georgia?
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: I find it comical that one of the senators from Georgia is talking about schemes in elections. Remember, Georgia was example A of that in the 2020 election.
KRISTEN WELKER: There were two statewide recounts in Georgia, Mr. Speaker.
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: They sent mail-out ballots to everyone, everyone knows all of the problems that occurred in Georgia. It was very controversial and remains so to this day because of all the things that happened there. Again, we’re not going to relitigate that. But what we have to focus on is going forward to ensure that there are not questions about the elections.
And that’s why Republicans are working at the federal and the state levels to clean those things up, to clean up voter rolls, to make sure illegals are not voting, for example. That’s what the SAVE Act is about. And we have to continue that and the president is keeping a proper focus on it. This investigation is to ensure that all the questions about the elections in Fulton County are investigated properly so that people have confidence in the system again. That’s very important.
KRISTEN WELKER: But there are really no questions about election integrity from 2020 that have not been asked and answered, even the Republican-led--
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: That’s your opinion.
KRISTEN WELKER: No.
SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: That’s your opinion.
KRISTEN WELKER: No. The Republican-led governor has pointed out it’s been years and no one has ever come forward under oath with evidence of fraud in Georgia.
She should have shut him down with his lies about the SAVE Act as well, and what it's real intent is, which is disenfranchising voters. Better yet, quit putting these people on at all, or cut them off and end the interview when they spread blatant lies as he did here.
Bonus link: Here's the real reason for the ballot seizure. It's nothing to do with 2020. It's all about 2026.
