Al Franken On Voting Rights Bill: ‘It’d Be Mitch McConnell Who Ended Our Democracy’

On the filibuster and the Senate voting rights bill, Former Sen. Al Franken tells Joy Reid, 'This is about our democracy. If we lose this one, if we allow elected Republican officials to overturn elections, our democracy goes away.' Dr. Christina Greer also joins The ReidOut to discuss.
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About The ReidOut with Joy Reid: Joy Reid conducts one-on-one conversations with politicians and newsmakers while addressing provocative political issues both inside and outside of the beltway. Reid, who is also a best-selling author and public speaker, joined MSNBC in 2011 as a contributor. Drawing from her decades-long experience in politics, passion for addressing the intersection of race, justice and culture, as well as her signature tenacious interviewing style, Reid kicks off MSNBC’s primetime lineup by delving into American politics as it unfolds.
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78 comments

    1. I’d dearly love to know how much ‘dark money funding’ his next campaign gets will be from GOP sources/supporters.

    2. Wouldn’t call them plants. They’ve just been bought and paid for by the same interests as the GOP

    3. They both are, how can the filibuster not even be up for discussion with them after all the Republicans have done and all the suppression bills the passed also the Supreme Court packing and letting Trump go for the insurrection.

    1. @Zach Riley
      Sinema is another Mad Marjie; with the same “sympathies”.
      She is totally unfit for the Democratic party and our country!!

    2. RIGHT??? I believe that they wear the BLUE but in all honestly , they are FAR RIGHT!!😡😡😡
      In other words… Treasonous axxhats. In my opinion, of course.

    1. Al If it was left up to republicans to make that change in the filibuster it would never happen.Repubs are wielding their power. Let’s talk about what Dems can do to stop them. Great that you’re exposing their moves because the American people need to see them for who they really are….like S&M. They refuse to change because they want to keep their constituency. Stop whining and do SOMETHING!

  1. If you need to count on Sinema to make changes neccessary to help, unfortunately I think the US is screwed. Her response to Biden was ridiculous and unintelligent. While she happily stood beside a Republican senator on their joyful day outside.. Her behavior, how she spoke and what she said gave me a strong feeling that she is working with the Republicans.

    1. @ ynotttt: What is your source? Also, as an hybrid race North African-Middle Easterner + European in the West I have seen White Supremacy 1st hand and often…it is a very real problem, regardless of what any politician says…

      And without it, explain the Terrorism carried out in its name, often on Mosques + Synagogues [where the majority congregation is ultimately of Afroeurasian, not European, race] or Churches [specifically those Churches with non-European congregational majorities?] ACROSS THE WESTERN WORLD, sadly, including 🇺🇸?

    2. **THESE REPUBLICANS PUT PARTY BEFORE COUNTRY…. AND THEY HAVE US MORE DIVIDED THAN I CAN EVER REMEMBER… AND I’VE BEEN VOTING FOR DECADES..**

    3. @ynotttt **. Bologna. **… Trump lost by over six million votes!!! You have drunk too much Kool-Aid!!! Stop buying all of trumps BS,,, guess what??? HE DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU OR YOUR FAMILY….. HE NEVER HAD A HEALTH CARE PLAN FOR YOU,,, IT WAS ALL LIES…. SHAME ON YOU FOR BELIEVING THEM…*”**

    4. @John Edward You party is in power and you are crying 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

    5. @ynotttt You again with all this fake, easily debunked pile of horse crap. Aren’t you ashamed to be spreading lies? Cite me a source for your lies that isn’t a far right propaganda outlet please…and that includes the Veritas project.

  2. Sinema says “change your behavior” is the solution to bipartisanship. Republicans won’t change their behavior as long as Trump and McConnell are in charge of the GOP.

    1. @Ignacio Couce IDs are a really minor part of this elections battle. I’d think they can be figured out. Just like in Europe.

    2. @MTN17 eh, they’ve already won. It’s just a matter of time. Almost half the country voted for T after 4 years of seeing him rule like a complete moron. We’re screwed.

    1. @John Edward What happened to Joe’s PUBLIC OPTION? Remember the campaign? You simple simple man.

    2. IT IS EVIDENT THA REPUBLICANS AREN’T THE ONLY COWARDS ON CAPITOL HILL, MANCHIN AND THIS. WOMAN NEED TO BE TRUTHFUL AND COME OUT FULL MAGA, Q. QUAC9 REPUBLICAN

  3. The professor is right, Manchin and Sinema are “actively working against the American people”. How can this be happening? Have they lost their minds?

    1. Someone has paid those two to block the Democratic Party they are Republicans dressed up as Democrats ! Disgusting human being!

    2. @Deanna Delmar right?! What behavior do you expect crazy people to change? The people who said Jan 6th was like any other day. The people who r trying to revise history and keep a failed republican president relevant. How do u change stupid

    3. manchin is a known Narcissist. he also has a peculiar ideology and wants power. How hard is that to understand, America?

    4. Because you’re being lied to and the only people working against the American people are the neocons and neoliberals that you love

  4. Their leaning with the new Confederacy! Reed, this is what they consider to be the new AMERICA! When the dust settles.

  5. Kick both out of the senate!! Protest them everywhere they go. Don’t give them a moments peace until they get in line or resign from office

    1. @gary quarty yeah a “fair” like the one they’re setting up for 2022, trying to block every vote they can to stop the majority from voting them out. That kind of fair, right? F🤡

  6. They both walk talk and look like republicans not Democrats otherwise they’d be saving democracy.

  7. Please stop calling it voter supression laws, and call it what it really is, which are New Republican Jim Crow laws and Anti Voting Laws!

    1. We have to ensure bloated voter rolls and no ID to vote do we can cheat! Many people only want freedom from government control. instead of Independence Day, we need to celebrate dependence!

    2. @Kevin Turner More like ‘we have to make it harder to vote, especially for democrat leaning voters, but really for eveyone, because our ideas are unpopular, and we know that the more people vote, the worse we do”. – fixed it for ya

  8. If we don’t get voting rights protected, we are only one election away from GQP taking power and ending democracy.

    1. @Dean Foyle ….Enormous evidence that even the judges agree was present. Judges and their families lives were threatened. They denied the cases on procedural grounds. This kept their personal grounds from being firebombed.

    2. @ynotttt,
      “Enormous evidence…”
      Have fun trying to prove things that never happened.
      There is enormous evidence that you should stop repeating ridiculous things that you read on Facebook.

    3. All you have to do to protect voting rights is take power away from states to determine their own laws like any Fascist regime would do. I strongly suggest you take their guns away first like Adolf Hitler and Hugo Chavez did.

    4. @mark ashby **AMERICANS NEED TO LEARN ABOUT THE FASCIST PLAYBOOK… FIRST YOU, DEMONIZE THE PRESS…. THEN YOU TAKE AWAY, CERTAIN PEOPLE’S RIGHT TO VOTE!!!!! AND EVERY CRITICISM IS FAKE NEWS!!! TRUMP==FASCIST…**

    5. @ynotttt **almost every instance of voter fraud that was discovered in 2020,,,, WAS done by ,,REPUBLICANS

  9. How much is it worth to Manchin and Sinema to betray democracy and who is paying them? I’ll bet they are getting way more than 30 pieces of silver.

  10. This is like DejaVu. We’ve already been down that “change your behavior” rabbit hole with Susan Collins. Sinema is running the same scam. Dems got some serious buyer’s remorse with her. 😭

    1. Well, they better step up and get her out. The GOP has buyer’s remorse with Trump and his gaggle of liars. The GOP will be known as the party that ended Democracy. Once it is gone, it will be close to impossible to get it back. These folks have no idea what life in a 3rd world country will be like and by the time they realize it, it will be too late.

    1. A perfect example of how the Dems don’t fight the Repubs on a level playing field. They do things infinitely worse than he ever did and they just say stuff it. We take the high road and will never win doing so.

    1. ………..Let give you some stats to educate yourself on. Remember…this is just Arizona. Think of the fraud in corruption filled cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Detroit, Atlanta, Milwaukee and many more.

      Voter Fraud Arizona
      42,000 people voted more than once
      15,000 dead people recorded as voting
      19,000 voted that didn’t have residence in Arizona
      8,000 votes from non existent addresses
      15,000 votes from commercial or vacant addresses
      4,000 non citizens voted
      130,000 unique instanc

      Joe Biden is telling you White Supremacy is the most critical issue in America, 🇺🇸 when you can fit every one of them in a small High School football stadium……so much more. America is being scammed. Enormous proof of voter fraud in Arizona. No logical person could say this election was close to legitimate. 100 million Harvested, mail In ballots with no picture Identification ??? America was HOODWINKED!!

    2. **WE NEED TO REGISTER AND VOTE NO MATTER HOW HARD THEY TRY TO MAKE IT,”,,, THEN WE WILL SAVE THIS DEMOCRACY!!!**

  11. McConnell said his goal when Obama was elected was to make sure he would be a one term president. Now he’s saying he’s focusing 100% of his effort on stopping Biden. It makes no sense at all that anyone would believe we can have bipartisanship with the current Senate.

  12. “We have to change our behavior…”

    Senator Sinema, have you met the GOP? What are you smoking?

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