Friday night’s The Situation Room featured the new CNN. Brianna Keilar, fill-in host, was again reminiscent of the old CNN. She invited Jim Clyburn (D–SC), House Majority Whip to discuss recent comments that compared the U.S. to Nazi Germany in 1930s.
After Clyburn complained about the reaction of Republicans to the attack on Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, Keilar followed-up:
We’ve seen a lot of things happen here lately. That is why you recently compared America to Germany in the early 1930s. You said that. You also said that America is on track to replicate what happened in Germany. Can you tell us what you see happening in America that motivated you to say this?
The Democrat congressman started by presenting himself as an expert in history: “All that you have to do is take a look at history. Remember that I have been studying history all my life. It was something I used to teach. It is something I see in this country.
Clyburn, after congratulating himself for correctly predicting that President Donald Trump would not concede an election defeat to him, repeated a discredited myth about how Georgia Republicans made it illegal to supply water to voters in line.
And here’s another: If the voters don’t intervene, we will see this democracy come to an abrupt halt. Because people were allowed to participate in the process, democracy has existed. Autocracies are made of the creation of committees that can reverse an election’s results. Autocracies are made up of things like saying that we will make it a crime for anyone to give them a bottle of water while they wait in line for more than four hours. This is what I am referring to.
He concluded that, despite his claims of being an expert in history, Clyburn incorrectly claimed Adolf Hitler was “duly chosen” chancellor for Germany, even though he was appointed by Germany’s president. Hitler then “went about discrediting media.” What did the former President have to say? The press is “the enemy” of the people. This is what autocracies are made from.
Keilar did not respond to his mudslinging comparisons of Republicans to Nazis. She then just closed the segment by saying: “Congressman James Clyburn. Thank you so much for this evening.”
T-Mobile and Sleep Number sponsored this episode of CNN’s The Situation Room. Here is their contact information.
The following is a transcription:
CNN’s The Situation Room
November 4, 2022
Eastern, 5:25 p.m.
CONGRESSMAN JAME CLYBURN (HOUSEMAJORITY WIP): People will push all of these lies. What is the state of our country? Is there any goodness left? Alexis de Tocqueville once said to us that “if we lose our goodness we will lose our greatness.” It is so simple.
BRIANNA KEILAR – Let me tell you — Part of what we’ve witnessed happen here recently — it is part of the reason why you recently compared America to Germany in early 1930s. That’s what I said. You also said that America is on track to replicate what happened in Germany. Can you tell us what you see happening in America that motivated you to say this?
CLYBURN – All you need to do is to look at history. Remember that I have been studying history my entire life. I used to teach history. It’s something I see in this country. I’ve been saying this since 2018. When I stated that Trump wasn’t planning to give up his presidency, many people gave me a hard time. We now know that he did not intend to relinquish the presidency as he stated on January 6.
And here’s another: If the voters don’t intervene, we will see this democracy come to an abrupt halt. Because people were allowed to participate in the process, democracy has existed. Autocracies are made of the creation of committees that can reverse an election’s results. Autocracies are made up of things like saying that we will make it a crime for anyone to give them a bottle of water while they wait in line for more than four hours. This is what I am referring to.
You can now look back at Germany and see that Adolf Hitler was elected their chancellor. Then he went about discrediting the media. What did the former President have to say? The press is “the enemy” of the people. This is what autocracies are made from. We’ve better get real.
KEILAR : Congressman James Clyburn, thank-you so much for taking the time to speak this evening.
