'That's a Big Stretch': GOP Rep Feuds with CNN Anchor Over Election Laws

Cortney O'Brien | March 29, 2021 10:55 AM

Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) started his interview with CNN's Pamela Brown by interrupting her first question to challenge CNN's narrative on COVID restrictions.

"I can tell you very quickly, Disney World in Florida has been open for months, with no major breakouts...our statistics are good," Waltz said from Orlando. "Our schools have been open since last August. So we all want to follow the data, but I would suggest a lot of these lockdown states are not doing that."

He noted that plenty of Californians have been visiting Florida because Disneyland remains closed.

Then the conversation shifted to elections and the Democrats' HR 1 bill that would ban ballot integrity measures like voter ID.

Brown pressed her guest if President Biden won the election fairly and squarely. He acknowledged Biden is the president, but asked a question of his own.

"What I keep asking, if many Democrats keep saying the elections were just fine, then why do we have HR 1, the Democrats' No. 1 priority?" Waltz asked.

They want to make all states perform their elections the same with HR 1, he observed, and include things that "just don't make sense."

"Dropping the voting age to 16," Waltz noted. "Do we want teenagers voting? Banning any state from requiring ID? I have to present an ID to get cigarettes or beer."

"If everything's fine, why are the Democrats cramming this?" he asked again.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp recently passed SB 202, which, in part, requires identification for absentee ballots and limits the number of remote voting locations. Democrats are adamantly opposed to the legislation. But Waltz mused that Democrats are "fear mongering" in Georgia and calling voter laws racist so that they can justify getting rid of the filibuster and then cram through HR 1.