This week, President Donald Trump joined 17 Attorneys General in a lawsuit from Texas to ask the Supreme Court to block electors in four battleground states from certifying Joe Biden’s victory when the Electoral College meets next week. Adam Reilly and Peter Kadzis, GBH political reporters and co-hosts of The Scrum podcast, joined Joe Mathieu on Morning Edition to discuss what it all means for democracy.
Some Republicans have spoken out against the President's efforts to overturn the election results, including Senator Mitt Romney, who called the lawsuit “madness,” and House Minority Leader, Congressman Kevin McCarthy. “The fact that he [McCarthy] wants nothing to do with this shows there is at least a handful of thinking individuals still operating in the Republican party,” said Kadzis.
As for the rest of the GOP, Reilly said that the party is “completely” invested in President Trump and Trumpism. Trump’s efforts to overturn the election won’t succeed, said Reilly, “because there are some principled Republicans at the local level, in state legislatures and state courts, who do not reject the idea of Democrats winning an election. But the vast majority of the GOP does,” he said, adding that the consequences of this divisive election are far-reaching and long-term. “I think we’re in a moment that augurs incredibly poorly for the future of our society," said Reilly. "It’s not the type of society I want my kids to grow up in.”
Watch: "On one side in particular, there's no interest in collaboration"
Reilly said the President's actions shouldn’t come as a surprise; Trump has been muddying the political discourse for years, calling Barack Obama an illegitimate president and predicting a fraudulent election from the start. However, according to Kadzis, these actions represent a major shift in American politics. “Here we are seeing the master of the big lie playing to his audience,” Kadzis said. “I think we need to take this out of the realm of politics and move it into the realm of social crime. He’s been trying to save himself by polluting the public discourse.”
"Trump is a grifter, he always has been a grifter. And here we are seeing the master of the big lie just playing to his audience."Peter Kadzis, GBH News Political Analyst
As for Biden’s recent Cabinet nominations, Kadzis said it’s “very plausible” that former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick could be tapped for Attorney General. “He’d jump at the job,” Reilly said, although he predicted that Patrick might be painted as a progressive during the confirmation process. “He’s a centrist Democrat who is good rhetorically but also a creature of the corporate boardroom."
Watch: Kadzis and Reilly discuss the possibility of Patrick as U.S. Attorney General
