MSNBC’s Ruhle in SOCTUS Panic: Dems ‘Going to Get Played’ By GOP!

Her 9:00 a.m. ET hour show was interrupted by Stephanie Ruhle, MSNBC anchor. MSNBC’s ET hour program Tuesday morning saw Stephanie Ruhle in panic mode after President Biden delayed his Supreme Court nomination by just one day. Ruhle wanted to have a bipartisan meeting about the appointment with senators. Her partisan paranoia was on display as she fretted that Democrats were somehow “going to get played” by Republicans.          

“President Biden will meet today with Senators Dick Durbin and Republican Chuck Grassley, the top members of the Judiciary Committee, about his plans to replace Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer,” Ruhle neutrally reported at the top of the segment. However, just moments later, the worried host engaged in complete left-wing hackery as she turned to PBS’s Yamiche Alcindor:

Yamiche! Please help me. Chuck Grassley was there to deny Merrick Grland even a hearing. It was a topic he didn’t hesitate to discuss as recently last year. Biden would love to meet up with him. Merrick Garland has to be watching this saying they are going to run the clock and then say it’s close to the midterms and we are going to get played again.

While Alcindor claimed Biden was “trying to put his best foot forward” by talking to some Republicans, she also engaged in the same panicked fearmongering as Ruhle:

However, Democrats are well aware that this will be a fast-moving issue and time is of the essence. Democrats are really just 50/50 in Senate. All it takes to make everything go sour is for one person get sick and one to be denied entry. So that is also in the back of Democrats’ minds.

Talking to Punchbowl News co-founder John Bresnahan, Ruhle wailed: “John, nobody is going to care about the show if they don’t get the results. We get a COVID flare-up, everybody goes home, the timing could get pushed again.” She then demanded: “Is the Biden administration making a mistake in putting on this best effort when it could put at risk this massively important appointment?”

Bresnahan admitted: “…it’s a 50/50 Senate. If one Democrat, you know, can’t make it or for health reasons, whatever, that would be a huge problem.”

Ruhle still had his freakish out when he returned to Alcindor a few minutes later. “Biden saying he could wait as much as four weeks. Are Democrats nervous that this could put things at risk?” Alcindor agreed: “They’re definitely some Democrats who are nervous about the timing, but it’s again – goes back to the idea that you’re dealing with senators who are mature, who have – who could possibly have some sort of health issues, so everyone is sort of on pins and needles…”

Near the end of the discussion, while speaking with NYU Law Professor and potential Biden SCOTUS nominee Melissa Murray, Ruhle whined that the President wasn’t getting enough credit for all the leftist federal judges he has appointed: “Biden is getting a lot more done on the bench front than people realize….more federal judges confirmed in 2021 than any first-year president since Reagan. In his first year, he got 40. Trump scored 23. Why isn’t this getting more attention? It’s a very big deal.”

Murray joined in by complaining that the liberal press wasn’t doing enough to promote it: “I could turn the question back on you, Stephanie. Why isn’t the media reporting this? Because this is the true success of Biden’s domestic agenda.” She then swooned:

He’s completely turned this around. Not only is there a demographic diversity, there’s diversity with the kind of professional experience that these nominees have. Public defenders, labor-side lawyers. It is quite staggering. It looks even more like the legal profession, than it has ever been.

Ruhle assured that she had done her part in smearing Trump appointees to the federal bench: “We do need to talk about it more. During the last administration, we talked right here about all those judges Trump was putting on the bench, white male under the age of 40, men with very little credibility, some were ghost hunters.”

The obedient anchor then followed Murray’s instructions: “And we should remind our audience, 40 confirmed in Biden’s first year, many of whom are true representation of our legal force in this country.”

Ruhle’s freak-out over the normal Supreme Court nomination process playing out was brought to viewers by Verizon and Noom. This is your chance to fight back.

The complete transcript for the segment on February 1, 2009 is available here:

9:33 ET

STEPHANIE RUHLE : As the day progresses today, President Biden will talk to Senators Dick Durbin (Republican) and Chuck Grassley (Republican), about his plans for replacing Supreme Court justice Stephen Breyer. Durbin stated that several Republican senators were open to Biden’s selection.

More than 12 candidates are being considered by the White House. The President said he’ll announce his pick within the next month. So let’s discuss and bring in Yalmiche Alcindor, the moderator of Washington Week on PBS, John Bresnahan, co-founder of Punchbowl News, and Melissa Murray, an NYU Law professor and MSNBC legal analyst, and one of the candidates that the White House has floated to replace Justice Breyer.

Yamiche! Please help me. Chuck Grassley was there to deprive Merrick Garland of a hearing. It was a topic he didn’t hesitate to discuss as recently last year. Biden would love to meet up with him. Merrick Garland has to be watching this saying they are going to run the clock and then say it’s close to the midterms and we are going to get played again.

YAMICHE ALCINDOR: Well, based on my conversations with White House officials, this is really President Biden trying to put his best foot forward, trying to, in some ways, dig in on the idea that bipartisanship is something he wants to embrace, even if it’s not necessary for his Supreme Court pick. The timing is different, but Democrats seem pretty certain that they’ll be able get this nomination through Congress. The numbers are clearly on their side.

However, Democrats are aware that it is something that must be done quickly. Time is of the essence. With this split of 50-50 in the Senate Democrats, it is all that’s needed to cause a person to become sick or for someone to be denied entry to make everything go berserk. So that is also in the back of Democrats’ minds.

But I think this White House meeting here, it really is, I think, just a show to say for President Biden, “You elected me to be somebody who is bipartisan, you elected me to be someone who tried to work across the aisle, I’m going to do that.” But my conversations with White House officials tell me that he is not going to be waiting for Republicans to try to give him a green light to get through his nominee.

RUHLE: John, nobody is going to care about the show if they don’t get the results. There is a COVID flareup and everyone heads home. The timing may be changed again. Do you think the Biden administration is making a big mistake by putting forth an effort that could jeopardize this important appointment?

JOHN BERSAHAN: You should consider that President Biden was a senator for 36 years. He – you know, form does matter, process matters, procedure matters to Biden. And I think he wants to go back to pre – you know, some of the form of the pre-Trump era where you have this kind of meeting, you know, even if it does, as you pointed out correctly, that as Yamiche said it, it does not really matter. It’s not going to – you know, he’s not sitting around waiting for Republicans to offer him names.

So I think process matters, but, yeah, listen, Senator Durbin was talking about this yesterday, all the, you know, all the Democrats and the White House are cognizant of, you know, it’s a 50/50 Senate. If one Democrat, you know, can’t make it or for health reasons, whatever, that would be a huge problem. It all depends on what time it is, and it also depends on who the senator is.

Justice Breyer’s not going anywhere, if you read his resignation – or his retirement letter – he plans to stay until or can stay throughout the rest of his term. So that doesn’t change the balance on the Court. So I think Democrats are feeling they’ve got to move, but they don’t want to do what Republicans do. They just don’t want to just jam somebody through in 27 days, like Amy Coney Barrett was.

RUHLE: It’s a good idea. It gets the job done and it gets them what they’re looking for. Melissa, it’s possible that you are the one they need. Do you remember speaking to President Obama about the names that were floated, or have you never? That’s a big deal.

MELISSA MURRAY: It’s a big deal. I’m honored to be included in this list. But to be clear, I think it’s important to reflect on what this nomination will mean for the country. It’s the first time an African American woman will sit on the high court. That’s enormous.

And it’s true that more contentious confirmation battles have become the norm, but I think we should reflect on the time when unanimity in Supreme Court confirmations was actually the rule and many people would just go along with the President’s pick, recognizing that elections have consequences, and though you did not necessarily agree ideologically with someone, it wasn’t really your pick to make and the President has his choice.

So all these individuals are highly qualified. Each of these people would make fantastic jurists. The President is the one who has all the votes so this process will be a smooth transition.

RUHLE. Yamiche. Are there any Republicans disappointed Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett so quickly? She was nominated in only eight days. Biden said he would wait up to four weeks. Do Democrats worry that it could lead to problems?

ALCINDOR: They’re definitely some Democrats who are nervous about the timing, but it’s again – goes back to the idea that you’re dealing with senators who are mature, who have – who could possibly have some sort of health issues, so everyone is sort of on pins and needles when it comes to making sure that all 50 senators can be there, that the Vice President can do her tie-breaking vote.

There is of course some – it depends of course who the nominee is, but there is talk that there could be some Democratic votes. The South Carolina delegation is already forming a group, Democrats and Republicans behind Judge Childs. So there is this sort of feeling that maybe they can afford to lose possibly one Democrat if something happens and a senator can’t make it.

You also asked the question “Are Republicans disappointed by Amy Coney Barrett’s flying through?” It’s not. Republicans were in for a lot of trouble when Donald Trump took office. In some ways they detested talking about Trump when tweets were flying and all that stuff. Three Supreme Court justices were on the bench. That was enough for many Republicans including Republicans pro-life and anti-mask. Apart from some issue-based issues such as Affirmative Action and abortion, the Supreme Court has all kinds of power in dealing with this pandemic. Republicans realized that Amy Coney Barrett had to be allowed.

It is also true that Democrats are losing energy. However, President Biden, John said, seems to be someone who is serious about the whole process.

RUHLE: Melissa, Biden does a lot on the bench than most people realise. The Federalist Society was Trump’s nominee for all the federal judges. Biden, however, was able in 2021 to confirm more federal judges than any other first-year President since Reagan. In his first year, he got 40. Trump scored 23. Why isn’t this getting more attention? It’s a very big deal.

STEPHANIE MURRAY: You could ask the same question again. Why isn’t the media reporting this? Because this is the true success of Biden’s domestic agenda. And it’s not simply that he has been absolutely assiduous in getting his nominees through. The nominees look very different from what we’ve seen for a long time. The majority of federal judges nominees have historically been from lawyers at big firms and prosecutors. He’s completely turned this around. Not only is there a demographic diversity, there’s diversity with the kind of professional experience that these nominees have. Public defenders, labor-side lawyers. It is quite staggering. It looks even more like the legal profession, than it has ever been.

RUHLE (Speaking for myself): This is something we need to discuss more. We talked about it during the previous administration. It was all white men under 40 years old, with little credibility and some ghost hunters. And we should remind our audience, 40 confirmed in Biden’s first year, many of whom are true representation of our legal force in this country. We are grateful to you. Thank you for joining me in this conversation.