Joe Scarborough on Roe v. Wade Fallout: ‘Americans Will Rightly Conclude That Their Voices and Votes No Longer Matter’
Joe Scarborough did not mince his words Tuesday morning, commenting on the bombshell leak of a draft Supreme Court decision that turns over the landmark abortion rights decision, Roe Vs. Wade.
Politico released the leaked document written by conservative Justice Samuel Alito that, if finalized, would effectively end federal protection for women seeking abortion and instead will leave that decision up to states. Roughly 20 GOP-controlled states have already passed laws limiting abortions for their constituents, provided Roe v. Wade gets overturned.
Scarborough commented on a photo from Madeleine Albright’s recent funeral that depicted five democratic presidents sitting on the front row, all of whom won the most votes in the presidential elections of 1992, 1996, 2000, 2008, 2012, and 2020.
He then used that image to illustrate how the will of the majority of Americans appears to be overturned by conservative judges appointed by Republican presidents elected with a minority of the popular vote.
Scarborough made his point by referencing recent polls that show that only 30% of Americans support an overturning of Roe v. Wade, the rest support keeping that landmark decision as precedent.
“A half-century of constitutional rights supported by over 70% of Americans — let me underline that again; people lying to you on other channels will never say this — Over 70% of Americans support that constitutional right,” the Morning Joe host said, “It’ll be swept away by the presidents, not in this picture, and the presidents who were outvoted in each one of those elections over the last three decades.”
“Americans will rightly conclude that their voices and their votes no longer matter,” Scarborough added in as succinct a framing of how many Americans are likely feeling this morning.
Jon Meacham joined the conversation and added that “the crisis of trust in institutions has just become universal in a way that is pretty much the nightmare scenario.” He said that he was “worried that we’re entering the darkest period of that test” of holding up Jeffersonian democratic values established by the Constitution, “Because if you have any reservations about the system’s capacity to deliver justice, they have just been affirmed.”
Watch above via MSNBC.
