Monday on CNN’s “Newsroom,” Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator Angela Rye said Republican backed “voter suppression” contributed to the low voter turnout in Wisconsin because people “were afraid they didn’t have the adequate ID.”
Partial transcript as follows:
COSTELLO: So, Angela, what does Stein want? I don’t even understand that, because she can’t possibly win. It wasn’t like she was a big Hillary Clinton supporter, you know, during the election campaign, because she wasn’t. So what is her game here?
RYE: So I think it’s really simple. I think that she sees that there are doubts in the minds of American voters, whether they were Green Party, Libertarians, or Democrats or Republicans, and she is trying to soothe the fears and the concerns of some of the people by asking for a recount. If Donald Trump won fair and square, what harm does it do? I agree with Jeffrey, if he thinks that there’s grounds for a recount in some of the other states, then do it. He’s alleging voter fraud in some of these states again across the spectrum on whether or not voter ID is on the books or not. So if he thinks that fraud exists and that is allegedly the base, right, for Republicans pushing force — pushing forth these suppressive measures, then why not do it? I think one of the things that we have not talked about enough, and is important when we talk about Wisconsin, is the fact that voter turnout was the lowest it’s been in decades, in 20 years.
COSTELLO: Because people disliked both candidates intensely.
RYE: No. No, no, no. Exactly. And that’s fine, Carol. I’m not negating that point. But what has been different this particular election, than any other, is voter suppression. And we should talk about that. If you don’t want to talk about a recount, talk about why people felt like they couldn’t go to the polls because they were afraid they didn’t have the adequate ID. Is that really what we want our democracy to be about? We shouldn’t make it harder for people to vote. We should be making it easier. That is a campaign that he should push.
COSTELLO: I know but that’s two — that’s two separate things. That doesn’t mean that the election —
RYE: No, but I think it matters — it matters when your —
COSTELLO: And counted the votes wrong.
RYE: No, but I’m saying it matters if you’re talking about why she could have lost Wisconsin, if she really did, if the 22,000 votes remain in Trump’s favor and his lead grows, then what happened? And I’m telling you this is another theory that we’ve not talked about as much, instead of pushing the whole recount effort.
COSTELLO: OK. I got to end it there.
(h/t RCP Video)
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