From the November 20 edition of CNN's CNN Newsroom:
CNN's Ben Ferguson falsely claims sexual harassment allegations against Justice Clarence Thomas were “debunked”
Written by Media Matters Staff
Published
POPPY HARLOW (CO-HOST): And back to you, Ben. You read, obviously, the opinion piece from Alabama's biggest newspaper over the weekend, not only saying don't vote for Roy Moore, but saying vote for Doug Jones, the Democrat. But one thing they write in here that struck me very much, how can we look our neighbors, our parishioners, our colleagues, our children in the eye and tell them they are worth less than ensuring one political party keeps a Senate seat. That runs directly counter really to what we heard from Kellyanne Conway this morning, does it not? I mean, she’s asked should people vote for Roy Moore, and she says we need tax reform passed.
BEN FERGUSON: Yeah. Look, I did my show last night and people were calling in from Alabama. And they described it this way, I'm not voting for Roy Moore any longer. I'm voting for the values that I believe in, that he claimed to represent. And I'm not going to give up six years of someone representing me because one man falls down. Hopefully the Senate will deal with him, and he will never take that seat and we'll get another Republican in there. That's how the voters described -- they said that what I believe and my values are a big deal and should be represented. Clearly it’s a conservative state, that’s why some people say that they can justify voting for him. I go back, though, to the core issue that we said at the very beginning here. I don't know how you can walk in there and support Roy Moore. I don't know how you can walk into the Senate if you're a colleague of Al Franken and shake that guy's hand and act like that he's on the same level of you. We've got to finally in this country take politics out of it and look at these two individuals as individuals and not as a Republican or Democrat, and say neither of these men should be in the U.S. Senate. And we should have a high standard here. And unfortunately, there's too many people over there playing politics of counting votes with both individuals. Democrats don't want to lose a U.S. senator, Republicans don't want to lose a U.S. senator. And I would say what the hell is wrong with us in this country that we actually even justify for a moment either of these men’s action. They shouldn't be in the Senate, period.
JOHN BERMAN (CO-HOST) All right, so this is --
SYMONE SANDERS: I would like to remind everyone that Donald Trump is still president of the United States of America --
FERGUSON: I get your point, politics.
SANDERS: And at least 12 have come out and accused -- I'm not playing politics, what I’m saying is if we're going to hold everyone to the same standard, we cannot ignore the fact that Donald Trump --
FERGUSON: Well, start with Al Franken.
SANDERS: And Justice Thomas, for that matter, is sitting at the Supreme Court, and Donald Trump is sitting in the White House.
FERGUSON: See, this is the politics crap that allows people to get away with things.
SANDERS: No, this isn’t about politics crap.
FERGUSON: You haven't even -- you're going after a Supreme Court justice for something that was clearly debunked because you care more about Democrats.
SANDERS: No, it was not debunked.
FERGUSON: When you care -- for goodness’ sakes, if Al Franken did this to you or one of your family members, would you be defending him on TV right now? Give me a break.
SANDERS: Are you kidding me? Ben, you clearly haven’t seen any of the hits I have done this week. I have noted time and time again --
FERGUSON: Only if it’s against Republicans.
SANDERS: On this program that Al Franken should step down. I've noted that we should have the same consequences and we have to address this the same across the board. And in saying that, that absolutely means other individuals who currently sit in positions of power.
FERGUSON: Talking about Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill is embarrassing.
SANDERS: Talking about Clarence Thomas is relevant because Anita Hill was one of the first women to come out. Talking about Clarence Thomas is absolutely relevant. We also have to talk about Donald Trump.
FERGUSON: And she was debunked. I'm not going to go there. It's embarrassing.
SANDERS: You should be embarrassed, because you again are trying to ascribe certain standards to some and other standards to other people.
FERGUSON: Symone, Symone.
BERMAN: All right, Josh Green is sort of our --
FERGUSON: Symone, look at Al Franken. Tell me right now you think he should be a senator. Come on.
BERMAN: Well she said no.
[CROSSTALK]
HARLOW: She said three times.
BERMAN: She said no.
SANDERS: I just said he should not have a job. How many times must I say it? Jesus.
Previously:
Study: CNN's paid Trump shills made more than 500 appearances over the last three months
Fox regular claims the women who accused Trump of sexual assault aren't credible