MSNBC anchor Joe Scarborough and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki expressed gratitude to the Supreme Court and conservatives for the Democratic turnout in the midterm elections.
Polls found that members of this “silent majority” prioritized abortion as they cast their ballots after the overturn of Roe v. Wade. The turnout came as a surprise given that surveys conducted prior to the elections found that few voters considered abortion to be a top issue in comparison to the economy.
“Dobbs made a huge difference and I think Democrats should send a pie to a member of the Federalist Society that they know,” Scarborough said.
“And send cookies to the Supreme Court,” Psaki added.
“And cookies to the Supreme Court, seriously, this was the quiet revolution, the silent majority even in states like Kentucky,” Scarborough continued.
Psaki said Tuesday’s election “was a huge night for abortion rights,” referring to an influx of women voters. Guest host Willie Geist added that abortion was the top issue in Pennsylvania exit polls, which likely contributed to the victories of Democratic Pennsylvania Senator-elect John Fetterman and governor-elect Josh Shapiro. (RELATED: Abortion Won’t Save Democrats In The Midterms, Despite Their Newfound Hopes)
“Joe Biden was walloped on whether he was going to protect a woman’s right to choose,” Psaki said. “That is amazing, it was huge night for abortion rights across the country. I mean, women voted in droves and in a number of states, that right is now protected in a number of states that are unexpected and it also drove a number of people to victory. So, yes, what people said a few weeks ago that it didn’t matter, that it was fading, turns out that wasn’t right.”
An exit poll from Edison Research found that about six of ten voters said they were “dissatisfied or angry” about the June 24 Supreme Court ruling, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which returned abortion legalization back to the state level, Reuters reported.
Voters in Michigan, California and Vermont all upheld abortion legalization in the ballot measure in Tuesday’s election. The Michigan measure put an end to a 1931 ban that went back into effect following the end of Roe. Voters in California and Vermont upheld amendments in the state constitutions to protect the so-called right to abortion.
In August, voters in the red state of Kansas rejected a state referendum intended to amend the state constitution to ban abortion. The Justice Department and federal judges have blocked the states of Kentucky, Louisiana, and Idaho from enacting their near-total abortion bans that went into effect following the Supreme Court ruling.