CNN panel melts down after Cheney ouster, predicts collapse of two-party system: 'This is existential'

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Media top headlines May 12

White House reporters allowing the Biden administration to edit their quotes and more round out today's top media headlines

A CNN panel admitted to getting "dramatic" on Wednesday and fearing for America's political future after Republicans voted Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., out of her role as House Republican Conference Chair.

Cheney has stood out among Republicans for her condemnation of former President Donald Trump and his "dangerous lies" about the 2020 election being stolen.

The panel read aloud some of Cheney's remarks behind closed doors before the final voice vote, which elicited an emotional reaction from CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash.

"It reads to me like someone who is facing a political public execution and wants to be heard before that political execution happens," Bash said of Cheney's speech. "I know that sounds dramatic, but that's what's going on here."

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"This is no small thing, it's existential, is it not?" asked CNN "Newsroom" co-anchor Jim Sciutto after the vote.

"This is existential, not just for the GOP," Bash said. "It is existential for democracy. Again we are making these bold, dramatic statements this morning, and we don't do it lightly. It is because it is true. This country needs a viable, two-party political system, at least, to exist, and that is on the brink and in danger of collapsing with the GOP going toward the notion of lies."

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Minutes later, during a segment on an upcoming hearing on the response to the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riots, Sciutto offered another dire prediction, asking CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow if the GOP had just "laid the groundwork for more violence."

On Tuesday, Cheney spoke defiantly on the House floor about her stance against Trump and Republicans who continue to peddle his stolen election narrative.

"This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans," Cheney said. "Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar. I will not participate in that. I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president’s crusade to undermine our democracy."

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The media's striking shift toward praising Cheney, who has a solidly conservative voting record, has not gone unnoticed. She has been put on a pedestal for "telling the truth about the big lie," liberal pundits agreed.

After she was booted out of her leadership spot on Wednesday, Cheney pledged to "ensure" that Trump never again "gets anywhere near the Oval Office."

Republicans are reportedly planning to install Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., as Cheney's replacement. Cheney remains in Congress as Wyoming's at-large representative.

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CNN's self-consciousness comes the same day the Washington Post published a lengthy feature on its news anchors veering toward liberal commentary.