CNN Scandalized By The Idea America Is a Republic, Not a Democracy, Argues we arent a Consitutional republic
With President Biden arguing that former President Donald Trump is a threat to democracy, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan decided it would be a good idea to try to help make that case. On Friday’s CNN News Central, O’Sullivan was seen on the road with Trump voters, where he was aghast at the idea that they view America as a republic, not a democracy.
In one clip, O’Sullivan was speaking to a couple when he declared, “Obviously, there’s a lot of criticisms of Trump that he is bad for democracy. That he’s bad for American democracy.”
A woman interrupted him to assert, “Can I say something? We are a republic. We’re not a democracy,” while a man echoed her sentiment, “We are a republic. We’re a representative republic. We’re not a democracy.”
It was a pattern that O’Sullivan would highlight through other Trump supporters, but O’Sullivan was distressed, “But for centuries, America has celebrated its democracy.”
He then played a clip of former President Ronald Reagan declaring “Democracy is worth dying for” and George W. Bush claiming “Democracy remains the definition of political legitimacy” to try to make the point that Republicans have left those two men behind and embraced craziness.
The clips of Reagan and Bush were juxtaposed with actor Will Cain, Speaker Mike Johnson, and Fox News host Pete Hegseth claiming America is a republic, not a democracy.
The whole premise is silly. Reagan and Bush were using democracy as an antonym for dictatorship, whereas others use democracy in a more literal sense, where the rights of the people are not protected from the emotions of the masses or of the legislature of the day.
Regardless, O’Sullivan sat down for an interview with author Anne Applebaum and asked, “Is America a democracy?”
Applebaum claimed, “America is a democracy. It was founded as a democracy.”
There is no way around it: Applebaum is simply wrong. Nevertheless, O’Sullivan lamented, “I’ve heard a lot of conspiracy theories — I hear a lot of things out on the road. But to hear Americans — people who would describe themselves as patriots — say that America is not a democracy — that stopped me in my tracks.”
Seeing a grand conspiracy at work, Applebaum replied, “You are hearing people say America is not a democracy because there are people around Trump who want them to be saying that. Who have been planting that narrative.”
h/t Coastie Patriot