On Fox News Channel’s “Special Report” on Tuesday, Democratic Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin attempted to downplay news from earlier in the day that language about “God” and “Jerusalem” was stricken from the Democratic Party platform.
Durbin told host Bret Baier, who was broadcasting from the scene of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., that it is improper to glean from this that Democrats are godless people.
“Well, I can just basically tell you if the narrative that is being presented on your station and through your channel and your network is that the Democrats are godless people, they ought to know better,” Durbin said. “God is not a franchise of the Republican Party. Those of us who believe in God and those of us who dedicated our lives to helping others in the name of God don’t want to take a second seat to anyone who is suggesting that one word out of the platform means that the Democrats across America are godless.”
And Durbin attacked Baier, suggesting this was not a pressing issue, whereas jobs and the economy are.
“I’m just telling you that you are harping on a trifle,” he said. “We know that both parties are devoted to this country. Both parties are God-fearing parties. Let’s get on with the agenda about creating jobs in America, about justice in this country.”
Baier pressed Durbin on the omissions once more, prompting Durbin to charge that this was much ado about nothing, since the document was “the most unread document in the history of American politics,” leading Baier to remind him that Democrats made an issue about the abortion language in the Republican platform.
“To suggest that this document and the insertion of two words here and one word there, it now defines politics in America, suggests to me that you’re not focusing on the real issues that Americans care about,” Durbin said. “[The focus is] for the American people to get back to work. We want to continue to create jobs.”
