On Wednesday evening, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow probed the numerous claims of election interference and voter intimidation by everyone from Russia and Iran to notorious Trump acolyte Jacob Wohl.
Meanwhile, Fox News host Sean Hannity once again zeroed in on recent claims about Hunter Biden and explained his, um, completely rational fear that the United States will devolve into a communist hellscape under Hunter’s father Joe.
Maddow didn’t touch on media censorship, while Hannity didn’t acknowledge voter suppression — which was pretty much par for this course.
(CN) — MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow began her broadcast Wednesday evening discussing rising Covid-19 case numbers across much of the United States, citing a recent study that found counties with mask mandates have decreased their caseloads by as much as 50%. At this point, though, it seems unlikely anyone still refusing to wear a mask will be swayed by some pesky mandate.
Meanwhile, Fox’s Sean Hannity again focused on recent allegations against Hunter Biden, Democrats’ alleged desire to pack the Supreme Court and Wednesday morning’s Senate Commerce Committee grilling of chief executives from Facebook, Twitter and Google/Alphabet.
Election shenanigans
Maddow cited multiple lawsuits claiming that on-time mail delivery in places such as Philadelphia, Detroit and northern Ohio have fallen to around 50%, thanks to changes to the postal service made by the Trump administration. Maddow underscored that it’s now too late to rely on the Postal Service to get your ballot in on time, and urged viewers to vote in person, all but assuring that Trump has some tricks left up his sleeve.
“That’s one way to try to win an election, right? If everybody has to vote by mail this year, then throttle the United States mail in Democratic strongholds in all the swing states,” she said.
Given the delays Pennsylvania encountered during their Democratic primary in June of this year, it’s wise to expect a wait before the results are announced. Since Republicans are more likely to vote in person and Democrats are more likely to mail-in their ballots, early vote tallies are expected to skew red.
Hunting Bidens
Fox News’ Sean Hannity began his broadcast by once again railing on Hunter Biden. Hannity claims “zero-experience” Hunter and his brother Jim received millions (and millions) of dollars in kickbacks from “sketchy foreign nationals” looking to exploit their relationship with then-Vice President Joe Biden. It’s probably safe to say that you should hold off on voting for Hunter Biden until someone refutes these allegations.
Hannity also claims that a veritable cabal involving every major media outlet aside from his own, along with tech companies, establishment Republicans and “the deep state” have all aligned against the president and his reelection, to the detriment of every freedom-loving American.
“They are the people that are acting like the dictators. They are the people that are totalitarian. They are the people that are shutting down the speech of those that they don’t like. They are the people that are burning books in the streets, looting, rioting in inner cities all over the country. Those are the Biden voters — that is the Democrat party today,” said the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr.
Voter intimidation
Maddow alerted viewers to series of robocalls sent to residents of Detroit and Cleveland in August by far-right muckrakers Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, for which the pair were recently indicted on felony charges. The automated message falsely claimed that anyone who votes by mail will have their information added to a government database accessible by police departments and collection agencies.
“Don’t be convinced into giving your private information to The Man. Stay safe, and beware of vote-by-mail,” the calls claimed.
Maddow revisited another intimidation campaign perpetrated by Iran via email last week that claimed the recipient would be injured if they did not vote for Trump. She said she’s still perplexed that anyone would claim these emails were intended to hurt the president, though most people despise violence, and the Iranian regime isn’t Trump’s biggest fan, so that seems entirely plausible.
Tech titans
Texas Senator Ted Cruz tore into Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, upset over what he claims is blatant censorship by the platform (and presumably Dorsey’s superior beard).
“You can censor the New York Post, you can censor Politico, presumably you can censor The New York Times or any other media outlet. Mr. Dorsey, who the hell elected you and put you in charge of what the media are allowed to report and what the American people are allowed to hear, and why do you persist in behaving as a Democratic super PAC?” Cruz ranted.
Republicans have cried foul over Twitter’s censorship of a recent New York Post article claiming ties exist between Joe Biden and group of nefarious Ukrainian businessmen, linked by his son Hunter, and haven’t been pulling any punches in pointing out as much. Hannity called big Silicon Valley companies “an extension of Biden’s press office” and claims they’re censoring stories that are bad for Biden.
Court packing
Hannity also appears deeply worried that Democrats will pack the Supreme Court should Joe Biden win the upcoming election, calling it “the biggest power grab in 150 years in this country.”
“I do think Republicans will regret not only what they did here but what they did to Merrick Garland at the end of 2016. They’ve twice now bent the rules, cracked them and broken them, to seize power in the Supreme Court,” said former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel when asked about the prospect of court packing.
Hannity called Emmanuel a liar, noting that justices have been nominated 29 times in history during election years, which begs the question: What happened to the excuse for forgoing Judge Garland’s confirmation hearing toward the end of President Obama’s second term?
“Democrats will pack the courts so their radical agenda will be left totally and completely unchecked,” exclaimed Hannity. “There will be nothing to stop them from stripping away your rights, and nationalizing major sectors of the economy and confiscating private property.”
He appears to be conflating Democrats’ stated desire for a national single-payer health care system with the policies of former dictators Fidel Castro of Cuba, or perhaps Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Fear not readers, as it’s unlikely the U.S. government will be taking over Texas oilfields or Nevada casinos anytime ever — regardless of who resides in the White House.
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