After his CNN appearance, Jon Meacham, a presidential historian, took his shoehorned Abraham Lincoln analogies and shared them with Andrea Mitchell Reports at MSNBC on Friday to warn that “this is the gravest challenge of citizenship since the Civil War.” Voters must vote Democrat in order to save democracy, just as Lincoln did.
Meacham compared the Civil War to today’s times and declared that “the war had come, but because he was convinced slavery had to die, and democracy had to endure.” We must do this in our own time. To use a common term, we must take inventory.
Meacham pleaded with voters to vote for the blue team. “We have to decide who we really believe.” Are we so attached to a partisan agenda that we want our way in real-time? Or are we able to say, “You know, I may not agree the Democrats on policy, but democracy is more important than a marginal rate?”
After Mitchell mentioned about “345 election deniers”–by which she meant Republican election deniers, Democrat election deniers never factor into these conversations–running for office, she asked, “How confident can we be that democracy does survive?”
Meacham responded by saying, “We can’t, we can’t be confident.” We must work really, really hard. This is the most difficult test of citizenship since the Civil War.
Mitchell did mention at least once in the segment that Meacham sometimes advises Biden. Meacham retorted on his earlier point about voting in favor of Democrats.
I believe that one group that needs to be morally reckoned with is those who disagree with Speaker Pelosi and President Biden, who we are considering at this hour, as well as the Democratic Party on policy, who say they don’t like Trump, but still vote Republican because of judges, taxes, and that kind of thing. All important, of course. However, as Doris Goodwin, our friend, pointed out, quoting Eleanor Roosevelt: This is not an ordinary moment.
Meacham could have more success with this group if he stopped insisting that history began in 2020, which, as a historian, should be obvious.
Liberty Mutual sponsored this segment.
Here’s the transcript of the October 28th show:
MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports
10/28/2022
12:31 PM ET
JON MEACHAM: He was certain that slavery must end and democracy must endure. We must do something in our own time. To use a common term, we must take inventory.
We must decide what we truly believe. Are we so attached to a partisan agenda that we want our way in real-time? Or are we able to say, “You know, I may not agree to the Democrats on policy, but democracy is more important than a marginal rate of tax?”
ANDREA MITCHELL: We’ve got, right now, 345 election deniers–
MEACHAM: Yeah.
MITCHELL — On the ballot across the nation in key positions, secretary-general, governors, and people who control the outcome of elections, according to Brookings. How confident can we be? Let’s say that all those people win their races, and the system collapses.
MEACHAM: Yeah.
MITCHELL: How sure can we be that democracy will survive?
MEACHAM: We don’t have the confidence to do so. We must work really, really hard. This is the most difficult test of citizenship since Civil War. It was 1968, 1933, or 1932. I thought about it for a while.
The difference is that Herbert Hoover did not claim FDR stole the election and placed election deniers on ballots in 1934. Hubert Humphrey did not do that in 1968. Trump, the former President Trump, has done that. To a large degree, he is both a mirror of what he is and a maker paranoia. It is not factual.
I believe that one group that needs to be morally reckoned with is those who disagree with Speaker Pelosi and President Biden, who we are considering at this hour, as well as the Democratic Party on policy, who say they don’t like Trump, but still vote Republican because of judges, taxes, and that kind of thing. All important, of course. However, as Doris Goodwin, our friend, pointed out, quoting Eleanor Roosevelt: This is not an ordinary moment.
