Brianna Keilar Mocks Chair of ‘Bogus’ Arizona Election Audit: ‘Like a Walking Infomercial for Conspiracy Theory News’

CNN New Day co-anchor Brianna Keilar shared a less than charitable view of Arizona State Senate President Karen Fann Wednesday morning, after airing highlights of a stunning interview held by CNN Reporter Kyung Lah. “She’s like a walking infomercial for conspiracy theory news,” Keilar snarked in a comment that at once mocked Fann and the information sources currently polluting our national discourse.

Fann is overseeing a dubious audit of the results from the November 3rd general election despite the fact that they are already certified. That audit comes with great support from former President Donald Trump — who continually amplifies the unhinged theory that he only lost the election because it was stolen. It was not.

Lah’s interview captured a stunning moment that revealed Fann’s reasoning behind supporting what the Republican-dominated Maricopa County Board of Supervisors called a “spectacle that is harming all of us” in a letter to Fann. A sample of the back and forth:

Fann: I don’t know what’s legit, what isn’t legit. But why wouldn’t we want to answer those questions?

Lah: Because you’re questioning democracy.

Fann: No, I’m questioning the integrity of the election system.

Lah: Which is the backbone of democracy.

Fann: That’s right, which means we should have full, 100% confidence in our democracy and in our election system.

Lah: But you’re talking about trying to disprove conspiracies.

Fann: If I have to, yes. Why wouldn’t we? If somebody says something is out there, I would love to be able to say, “That’s not true, guys.”

As Mediaite’s Michael Luciano appropriately wrote: “Fann seems to believe that any time someone makes a claim – no matter how wild or specious – it is incumbent upon others to disprove it, rather than the person making the allegation to prove it.”

But for philosophy nerds obsessed with the ephemeral nature of meaning, Keilar’s comment was not the best part of the segment above. The real highlight came when co-anchor John Berman cited Bertrand Russell (!) to explain the logical fallacy of proving a negative.

“Karen Fann’s argument is intellectually dishonest, and it’s one of the oldest dishonest arguments in the books,” Berman noted. “You know, Bertrand Russell, the British philosopher called it Russell’s teapot, he says ‘if someone is going to claim that there is a teapot rotating around the sun, it’s not my job to prove there’s not.'”

“If someone’s going to make a bogus, ridiculous statement, it’s not my job to prove there’s not a teapot rotating around the sun,” he continued. “It’s hers to present actual real evidence in the case.”

“I don’t have to prove there’s not a goblin standing outside the door right now just because someone crazy says ‘there’s a goblin standing outside the door.’ No, there’s not. I don’t have to say anything. That’s intellectually dishonest.”

Watch the video above via CNN.

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