Democratic attorney Marc Elias said Sunday that President Donald Trump’s continued legal challenges amounted to “the next iteration of birtherism.”
Elias joined CNN’s Brian Stelter on “Reliable Sources” to discuss Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election as well as how he believed the media’s coverage of those efforts might need to change. (RELATED: Democratic ‘Super Lawyer’ Is Trying to Get Kanye West Off The Ballot In Virginia)
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The segment began with a conversation about the lawsuits that had been filed thus far, most of which had not resulted in wins for the Trump team, and Elias noted that the Electoral College was still set to meet as planned.
“But what happens when tens of millions of people believe it was stolen? How do you see this playing out in the months to come?” Stelter asked.
“Look, I think it’s very dangerous. And I always knew that Donald Trump would act irresponsibly,” Elias replied, saying that he believed Trump had acted irresponsibly as president and wasn’t terribly shocked to see that hadn’t changed.
“What is really, really distressing is to see the other senior Republican officials going along with this,” Elias continued, saying that his real concern was the attorneys general from other states — and over 100 Republicans in Congress — who had signed on to a Texas lawsuit aimed at overturning the election.
Stelter went on to ask whether Elias believed that media coverage would have to change in order to adapt to the new environment. (RELATED: ‘Don’t You Dare!’: A Self-Righteous Stelter Upbraided By 30-Year News Veteran In Testy Exchange Over Hunter Biden Emails)
“It does, because, as you said, the problem is that the Republicans doing that have let certain news outlets create an equal side, two sides to this, when in fact there is only one factual side,” Elias explained. “I think the press needs to — the media needs to start reporting this for what it is, which is the new birtherism. Birtherism was a lie and it was a lie through and through. And that’s what we are seeing now. We are seeing the next iteration of birtherism.”