CNN's April Ryan: Voting rights in the US have 'collapsed'
'Consider the source. Has she ever reported on anything without the narrative spin?'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CNN political analyst April Ryan suggested during a White House press briefing on Tuesday that voting rights in the United States have virtually "collapsed."
"The Grio" White House correspondent evoked the common liberal talking point while questioning White House press secretary Jen Psaki on President Biden's commitment to strengthening "the nation's oldest civil rights laws."
"As voting rights is, I don’t know what you call it, collapsed? As policing is held up, there’s a call for reparations… there's so many things that the congressional Black caucus is trying to push forward with their agenda…," Ryan said. "Is this president concerned at this time about that and does he think this will bring more attention to these issues…" she asked.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ryan was likely referring to the Democrats' election reform bill, which was blocked by Senate Republicans last month. While the vote was celebrated among Republican lawmakers who dismissed the legislation as a "partisan power grab," liberal reporters and news publications adopted Democrat messaging with slanted headlines that largely cast the GOP against "voting rights."
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Republican communications staffer Matt Whitlock scolded Ryan for her journalistic practices.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"For those who have been baffled that Merrick Garland filed his absurd lawsuit in Georgia — that was more about substance-free exchanges like this than actual policy and law. This is embarrassing for the White House and whoever is paying April Ryan now," he wrote.
Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich also called out April for her misleading remark, tweeting Tuesday "White House reporter April Ryan just claimed voting rights have "collapsed," which is of course not true."
"Consider the source. Has she ever reported on anything without the narrative spin?" another user responded.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Wow. Hyperbole much?" echoed another.
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Democrats pushed the legislation as an urgent priority to save democracy and to counter Republican efforts in state legislatures to pass what they claim are "voter suppression laws." Many reporters uncritically repeated this framing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Psaki assured Ryan that racial equity remains among the "key pillars" of Biden's presidency and said she expects to reveal more on the topic in the coming days.