CNN panel explodes after Trump makes unfounded claims about mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania

Updated ·3 min read

A CNN panel erupted on Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night after President Trump made remarks concerning the Supreme Court’s decision to allow mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania to be counted for up to three days after the election. Trump has repeatedly spoken out against the decision, claiming it would open the door for voter fraud though he has yet to produce any evidence proving so. On Monday, in a tweet that was flagged by Twitter for possibly containing misleading information, Trump took his derision of the Supreme Court’s decision further, claiming that it would “induce violence in the streets.” Despite the fact that in every U.S. election, votes have been counted after Election Day, former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum came to Trump’s defense, but Cooper wasn’t having.

“We saw it in Bush v. Gore. Which is, you count until we win,” Santorum said. “And you just keep going…” “You’re interpreting what the president’s talking about,” Cooper interrupted. “We hear what the president’s talking about and what he’s saying is BS. It is complete BS.”

Things didn’t get any more civil when they discussed Republican efforts to limit vote counts in some states. Texas Republicans have repeatedly lost court battles to get over 127,000 votes thrown out because they were cast using drive-thru voting, which had been set up in Harris County due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A judge in Nevada also rejected a Republican effort to halt early vote counting.

“They’re trying to stop 100,000 peoples’ votes that have already been cast in Houston,” Cooper said as Santorum refuted the assertion that Republicans are attempting to suppress the vote. “But this is a widespread, ongoing Republican thing,” Cooper continued. “Republicans don’t want a lot of people to vote.” “You’re talking about one incident,” Santorum retorted. “It seems like everywhere, the Republicans seem to be on the side of limiting voting as much as possible,” Cooper shot back. Cooper then reminded Santorum that Texas limited each county to only one dropbox, including in highly Democratic Harris County where Houston is located.

Van Jones also unleashed a spirited diatribe about voter intimidation, and Gloria Borger railed against Trump’s insistence that a winner be announced the night of the election, despite the fact that in 2016, he was not announced as the winner of Michigan and Arizona until several days after the election. Santorum was forced to admit that Trump is not making the best argument.

“He wants the election to end at midnight, miraculously,” Borger said. “Somehow, okay, it’s midnight, the election is over, and if he doesn’t win, and people are still counting votes, that means it’s a rigged election. That’s not the way elections work in this country.” Santorum responded, “Maybe the president is making — not making the most cogent argument.”

Anderson Cooper 360 airs weeknights at 8 p.m. on CNN.

Watch John Oliver reveal he ‘nearly burst into tears’ while voting for the first time as a U.S. citizen:

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