MSNBC cries 'voter suppression' during Georgia runoff election coverage
MSNBC hosts and analysts expressed more concern for "voter suppression" during their election night coverage on Tuesday.
MSNBC hosts and analysts, including Joy Reid and Lawrence O'Donnell, continued to express concern for voter suppression during their runoff election coverage on Tuesday.
Reid said voter suppression "worked" to get Democrats to vote early and "lean into absentee" voting.
"Democrats vote early and they report late. And so if you are getting toward the end of the night and what is left are places like DeKalb County and Fulton County, Democrats feel really good if it looks like a tie because, they're like, those late voters are us. Democrats, they, the way that voter suppression has worked is that it’s pushed Democrats to really early vote, to really lean into souls to the polls, and vote early, to lean into absentee, which was really destroyed by this law. Absentee was crushed by it," she said.
Later in the evening, Reid declared Gov. Brian Kemp, R-GA., a "champion vote suppressor" and insisted they made it as hard as possible for people who vote Democrat to vote.
MSNBC's Joy Reid claims Brian Kemp is a "champion voter suppressor." (Screenshot/MSNBC)
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Sen. Warnock, D-GA., defeated Republican Herschel Walker on Tuesday in Georgia's Senate runoff election.
"Brian Kemp is a champion vote suppressor," Reid said. "They made it as hard as possible and they still lost. They won’t learn a lesson from it because Brian Kemp agrees with Donald Trump on the fundamental thing. Those people should not be allowed to vote because they don't vote for me."
MSNBC's Nicole Wallace also chimed in as they discussed Walker's candidacy and said Republicans "did make it harder to vote."
"I mean they did pass a law that was so bad baseball left Georgia. They did pass a voter suppression law," she said.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp campaigns alongside Senate candidate Herschel Walker on Saturday, Nov. 19, 2022 in Smyrna, Ga. (AP Photo/Bill Barrow)
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During MSNBC'S "Morning Joe" on Wednesday, Lawrence O'Donnell suggested Warnock would have won by much more had it not been for voter suppression.
"But when you look at the 100,000, you have to wonder, you have to wonder, if they simply had reasonable – reasonable voter laws in Georgia – by the way, reasonable operational hours, if they were open for a couple more hours, how much more would it have been. Would Warnock have won by 300,000? What did that voter suppression score turn out to be?" he said.
Juanita Tolliver, a MSNBC political analyst, said she appreciated Warnock because of the "systematic way that he has defied odds" with voter suppression "running rampant" in Georgia.
"S.B. 202 was clear and present throughout this runoff cycle and throughout this election. Remember, they cut the runoff time from nine weeks to four weeks. They eliminated drop-off locations, close polling locations, purged voter rolls, did everything they could to prevent people from turning out. But through that multicultural, through that every single day effort to turn out and mobilizing engaged voters, Georgia organizers, Georgia volunteers, and Georgia voters defied the odds again tonight," she said.
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock speaks during an election night watch party, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, in Atlanta. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a runoff election in Georgia. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Warnock, during his victory speech, also called out voter suppression.
"Just because people endured long lines that wrapped around buildings, some blocks long, just because people endured the rain, and the cold, and all kinds of tricks in order to vote doesn’t mean that voter suppression does not exist. It simply means that you, the people, have decided that your voices will not be silenced," he said.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., celebrated Warnock's victory as well on Wednesday and said that despite Republican "efforts" to "make it harder to vote," the people of Georgia voted.
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Herschel Walker takes photos with supporters during a campaign rally Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022, in Greensboro, Ga. Walker is in a runoff election with incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
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Walker conceded to Warnock Tuesday evening and said he was not going to make "excuses."
"But one of the things I want to tell you is you never stop dreaming. I don't want any of you to stop dreaming. I don't want any you to stop believing in America. I want you to believe in America and continue to believe in the Constitution and believe in our elected officials. Most of all, continue to pray for them," he said during his concession speech.