CNN’s Alice Stewart Shrugs Off Trolls: ‘No Guy Sitting in His Basement Calling Me All of These Names Will Change My Mind’ About Being Pro-Life

Sarah RumpfMay 8th, 2022, 9:18 pm

CNN commentator and Republican strategist Alice Stewart shrugged off attacks she gets from online trolls for her pro-life beliefs, telling CNN Newsroom anchor Pamela Brown that “no guy sitting in the basement calling me all of these names will change my mind.”

Stewart was on Brown’s program Sunday along with Democratic strategist Maria Cardona to discuss the potential implications of repealing the landmark Supreme Court case of Roe v. Wade, which seems all-but-certain after the recent leak of a draft majority opinion upholding a Mississippi abortion law.

After going over some of the likely political consequences of the pending court opinion, Brown asked her guests about some of the attacks they had both faced for their views on the contentious topic of abortion.

“Everyone is so passionate about this,” said Brown, but “unfortunately people sometimes are expressing it in really horrific ways that aren’t productive to this conversation.”

She brought up a screenshot of one of Stewart’s recent tweets, in which she quoted an expletive-laden message she had received “for standing up for my pro-life values.”

Brown commented that she didn’t think that it was “helpful for either side to be demonizing the other side for their closely held beliefs, their viewpoint, their philosophy on this,” and asked Stewart for her take.

Stewart replied that it had been “difficult” and “hurtful” but she also “truly believe[s] this is the right position as a pro-life social conservative working on this for decades.” She mentioned that she had worked on five presidential campaigns, and abortion had been a “key issue the entire time.”

“No guy sitting in his basement calling me all of these names is going to change my mind,” said Stewart, “No one sitting there behind a cat picture on Twitter is going to make me believe something different.”

It was important, Stewart continued, to have these conversations about this difficult topic “with respect and understanding.”

Cardona, said Stewart, was a friend of hers and they disagreed on the issue of abortion — “I don’t believe we should have abortion at all except in cases of rape, incest and the life of the mother” — but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends or discuss this topic.

There were “so many nuances to this conversation,” said Stewart. The differences of opinion were a place to “begin,” and the next step was to find “where do we agree, and expand from that?”

“And we agree that you shouldn’t be hateful,” said Brown, cuing Cardona for her comments.

“Oh, absolutely,” said Cardona. “And none of that is okay. I adore my friend Alice. Sometimes I get hate for adoring my friend Alice, and she gets hate for adoring me too.”

“People with cat pictures are tweeting right now!” Brown quipped as her panelists chuckled.

“Every time I talk about this I’m called baby killer,” said Cardona, “and I am a practicing Catholic woman going against the church on this, because I believe the decisions should be made between the woman, her family, her doctor and if she’s religious, her God, and that is something to continue to talk about.”

Brown concluded by praising her guests for being able to “set the example over an issue that you are so passionate about.”

Before the segment, Cardona tweeted to promote the show. “We will disagree passionately but civilly!” she wrote, getting a retweet from Stewart. The two women co-host a podcast called Hot Mics from Left to Right.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.