Dec 13, 2023
DeSantis PANICS As Devastating Threat To Florida Residents Exposed On Stage
Ron DeSantis visibly crumbles over Kate Cox question and attention on his Florida heartbeat law against abortion during CNN town hall with Jake Tapper. John Iadarola and Adrienne Lawrence break it down on The Damage Report.
- 6 minutes
Yesterday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled
that a pregnant woman in Texas could not
obtain an abortion.
Now her lawyer said that carrying the
fetus to term could compromise her future
fertility and also put her life in danger.
Do you think the law should require
a woman in that kind of difficult
[00:00:15]
position to carry the baby to term?
>> Speaker 2: What I can
tell you is in Florida,
the Florida legislature passed a heartbeat
bill that contained exceptions, and
I understand they're very difficult, and
these things get a lot of press attention.
I understand, but that's a very small
percentage that those exceptions cover.
[00:00:32]
There's a lot of other
situations where we have
an opportunity to realize
really good human potential.
>> Speaker 3: And
how exactly would we do that?
Would we do that by backing off of the
insane laws that Republicans have passed
[00:00:47]
that have resulted in horrors being played
out on a daily basis in states across
mostly the south.
But other parts of America as like,
he hid in a way that so
many republicans do behind,
there are exceptions.
And he talked about how in
Florida we have exceptions no,
[00:01:02]
I understand that you have exceptions.
I understand that that is supposed to be
the paper pointless shield that you hide
behind to avoid culpability for
your insane,
religiously dogmatic
laws that you're passing.
The point of all of this is that
those exceptions aren't worth a damn,
[00:01:20]
they will not save Kate Cox's
reproductive ability.
They won't save her life, necessarily.
She, like so many, is being forced to flee
to another state because you passed those
exceptions so that you could
get the laws passed, that's it.
With no intent that anyone would
be able to qualify under them.
[00:01:38]
What he finds so
inconvenient is that the case of Kate Cox
is pointing that out to everyone.
It shouldn't have required
this case study, we and
others in media have been saying it
since before the laws were passed.
But now it is an unavoidable conclusion
that those exceptions don't mean anything.
[00:01:56]
And you should never gamble your future or
the future of those you love on these
little dribs and drabs of lies that
they've put in their legislation.
I think, Jake Tapper did sort of
point that out, which is good and
we're gonna have more to say
about that later in the show.
But, Adrian, what do you make of know?
[00:02:13]
>> Speaker 4: I really think that
you have hit the nail on the head.
The fact is that these little
exceptions out here that the republican
party likes to say are qualifiers.
And they're in the event
of legitimate abortions,
that they're really just a farce.
They're not here because
they require the permission,
[00:02:29]
the approval of members of the judiciary
or members of legislature in some way.
And these are the same individuals who
co-signed on to these restrictions.
And we're seeing this play out in Texas
right now that there are truly no
exceptions.
If you have to get permission
from a body or board that is
[00:02:46]
against you being able to access that
form of healthcare to begin with.
And it's so incredibly, incredibly
disheartening that people continue to vote
for individuals who would
make decisions like this.
And I really hope that the situation
with Cox down in Texas is enough
[00:03:02]
to get people to make good decisions
when they are at the ballot boxes.
Because otherwise,
they are doing nothing more than
guaranteeing a future that
involves more restrictions and
more farce like exceptions
provided by the Republican Party.
>> Speaker 3: 100% I mean, nobody should
be surprised that this is happening,
[00:03:21]
that people are.
And she's gonna be able to get out
of the state other people will not.
They will not have the resources,
they won't have the media attention,
they won't have the nonprofit connections.
They will suffer,
they will have horrendous experiences
some will be scarred for life.
[00:03:37]
Some will no longer be able to have
children for the rest of their life,
some will die.
Republicans know that and
have passed the laws anyway that is it,
that is what is going on here.
They don't want you to pay attention
to these cases that make clear
[00:03:53]
the horror of how these
situations are adjudicated.
And that's as true for Kate Cox as it
is for, as we talked about yesterday on
the show, Brittany Watts,
these laws are set up to repress.
That's what they are there for and so
we cannot be surprised that in the end,
[00:04:10]
what we get is repression.
It is not a side effect,
it's not an unforeseen consequence,
it is unfortunate for them that
people are paying attention to it.
But that's what it's there for,
always you don't need a judge or
Ken Paxton or
the republican state legislature.
[00:04:26]
There has always been a perfectly
suited arbiter as to whether a person
needs to have an abortion, and
it's the goddamn person who's pregnant.
They have the expertise, they have
the knowledge of their life situation,
[00:04:42]
they know what is going on.
And the idea that some conservative who
has since the first time they took notice
of women.
Despised and lusted after and
feared them should be making that decision
is utterly sick and only makes sense
to men who are as broken as he is.
[00:05:00]
Ron DeSantis.
Look, if there's anything to make us feel
better about this is that he might well
not drop out after Iowa.
When he is going to get utterly creamed,
he might hang around and
that is only gonna increase the pain for
him.
[00:05:16]
It is only gonna hurt his reputation more,
it is only gonna hurt his chances of
ever actually becoming president some.
You know, it is difficult right now
to come up with someone who deserves
the suffering he is inflicting on
himself more than Ron DeSantis.
Any final thoughts on this
before we take our break Adrain?
[00:05:32]
>> Speaker 4: No, I just think it would
be very disheartening that individuals
will continue to prop up
others like Ron DeSantis.
If he continues to be governor after this,
if individuals continue to allow
somebody like this to be in a leadership
position and to encourage them.
[00:05:49]
But then again, we have individuals
like Vivek Ramaswamy i who also
unapologetically think they
should be in a position to lead.
Scary?
>> Speaker 3: 100% and don't worry,
we will get to him following
his CNN town hall.
>> Speaker 4: Can't wait.
>> Speaker 3: God only imagines what he
will say, might actually make Ron DeSantis
[00:06:06]
seem somewhat [LAUGH] reasonable
by comparison and isn't that sick.
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The Damage Report: December 13, 2023
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