Pro-Trump CNN Pundit’s Example Proving Dems Are in Disarray Instead May Prove the Opposite

Pro-Trump CNN Pundit’s Example Proving Dems Are in Disarray Instead May Prove the Opposite

This was embarrassing.

Conservative commentator and former Trump campaign advisor David Urban tried to push the cliched “Democrats in disarray” trope over impeaching Donald Trump on The Lead with Jake Tapper Tuesday afternoon, only to have the show play a video clip that seemed to indicate otherwise.

First, CNN reporter Maeve Reston said that “obviously there is division” in the Democratic House caucus over impeachment, with members who represent more moderate and conservative districts not so eager to push forward with impeaching the president. Meanwhile, members who represent heavily Democratic districts, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, do not have to worry about significant backlash and threats to their re-election from less liberal constituents. So they are more anxious to begin impeachment.

“It shows you how fractious this debate is,” Reston added.

Urban jumped on the point: “You heard [CNN reporter Manu Raju’s] questioning of AOC, and she said ‘We shouldn’t be scared of elections, who’s afraid of elections?’…But I can tell you who’s afraid of elections. Nancy Pelosi is afraid of elections. Because she’s scuttled into the caucus there saying, oh, we don’t have any divisions.”

After a bit more back-and-forth between Urban and Democratic strategist Karen Finney, Tapper played another clip of Ocasio-Cortez talking to Raju, in which the reporter asked if the congresswoman “is concerned with Pelosi’s approach to this?”

“You know, I trust the speaker is taking a measured approach to ensure that we’re moving everyone forward,” Ocasio-Cortez answered. “I know that, you know, being a speaker is hard. Holding this party together is a difficult task, but I think that we know what we need to do.”

That does not sound like someone unconcerned with elections. That sounds like someone who is well aware that the caucus leader has broad forces and concerns that she needs to balance as Democrats try to figure out their next move. So while there are certainly divisions within the caucus over the question of when and how and even if they should impeach Trump, Ocasio-Cortez’s statement indicates that there may not quite be the fractiousness that conservatives are quite obviously hoping for.

Good try, David Urban. You’ll get them next time.

Watch the segment up top, via CNN.

Gary Legum

Gary Legum has written about politics and culture for Independent Journal Review, Salon, The Daily Beast, Wonkette, AlterNet and McSweeney's, among others. He currently lives in his native state of Virginia.

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