Theres going to be a fighting mood out there as it becomes clear that, you know, ms. Barrett means the end of roe v wade as well as the end of the Affordable Care act. How cool is it to get a working mom on the Supreme Court. And by the way, a working mom of seven kids. You know, i mean, this woman is going to be something to reckon with. Democrats, the media, the mob, theyre beginning to try and paint this woman as a monster. Buckle up. Theyre attacking her faith and god, her catholic faith,ville, y aspect about her life. Howie this followed days of media attacks against the president and Mitch Mcconnell once news broke they had enough republican votes to confirm a replacement of for Ruth Bader Ginsburg. A number say their party should get even if joe biden wins by packing the court with extra seats. Why wouldnt they . If theyre in control, why wouldnt they . Because theyre weak. And theyre wimps. And theyre afraid. Theyre so obsessed with beating trump and his voters that theyre willing to destroy our entire system of checks and balances to do so. Maria joining us now to analyze the coverage, mollie hemingway, Senior Editor at the federalist and fox news contributor. In new york, jedediah bila, the cohost of fox friends weekend. In logs angeles, Leslie Marshall, radio talk show host and fox news contributor. Mollie, the media you attacks on Amy Coney Barrett began days before she was named. Ill get to newsweek in a moment. Some of this echos democratic attacks on her criticism of her at her confirmation hearings three years ago. Do you believe some of these attacks amount to anticatholic bigotry . Yeah, the media have not done a great job of covering Amy Coney Barrett for several years. The real issue is that the Supreme Court is contentious because in recent decades it has kind of add b abdi abdicated it. President trump promised to appoint judge thats would determine the constitution as written. Hes had a successful first term, one of the most successful aspects is how he nominated judges in that mold that a amy could an Comey Barrett is in. Really, whats at issue is that the media who have become increasingly partisan, have a different idea about how the court should be. They want it to be that legislature that sets policy even as Many Americans think that has been damaging to the country. Theyll use what they can, whether thats her faith or of other aspects, like they did with brett kavanaugh. Howie jedediah, newsweek had to run a correction for reporting that a charismatic Christian Group that barrett belongs to was the model for an apoapocknovel. People picked up on that and tweeted it out. When you run the corrections, what the problem is, a lot of people read the original story and dont see the correction. So the plan here of course, by some on the left is to paint her as a radical, to say that she would adhere to her faith in a way that would be bizarre or odd. The thing is, and she pointed it out very well, shes not a policy maker. Her individual views, her religion, should not be weighing and the reason that they weigh in for the left is because the left use everything through the lens of activeism. They think, well, if shes put in this position, suddenly her personal views are going to inform her decisions on the court. That is not the case. That should not be the case, i should say. And for her, and based on the statements shes made thus far, that would not be the case. So its just i think youre seeing emerge two very different visions as to what the court should look like in terms of activeism versus originalism. Howie on that point, leslie, law professor jonathan tourly wrote that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a proud jew, yo attended conferences on jewish law. Nobody you accused her of letting her faith dictate her decisions. That seems to be a double standard for Amy Coney Barrett. This country was founded on religious freedom. The people who came here from plymouth, massachusetts were fleeing religious prosecution and attacks. Thats wrong, no matter what. However, if this was reversed, if you had a democratic president and they were putting forth somebody who was so outspoken and so proabortion and so liberal and progressive on this matter, there would be the same attacks, not on religion, but certainly the same attacks on views. You have to remember that judge barrett, prior to being a judge, when she was a teacher, she put herself out there again and again and again, talking about her views on abortion. She went further in saying that as a catholic, a judge should recuse themselves on issues that conflict with their moral beliefs. Such as, Capital Punishment or abortion. Thats concerning for many, and not just on the left, that a judge would say, look, if theres an issue like that ive got to recuse myself especially if shes on a court that by the way will have a sixthree conservative majority which where i sit is a packed court. Howie okay. But on this question of court packing, mollie, youve had a number of liberal pundits as well as democratic lawmakers saying were going to get even next year if the democrats take over, were going to add extra court seats. What would the mainstream reaction be if republicans talked about packing the court . Ruth Bader Ginsburg had been a liberal activeist, including on issues of abortion. She was confirmed Something Like 973. We have a comparison of what would happen if it were the opposite. Its not at all what were about to go through. Its true youve had people on the left threatening that if the court doesnt rule the way it wants or if the constitutional process to confirm Amy Coney Barrett is followed, they will retaliate by packing the court or doing other things like that. This is something that we saw from Franklin Delano roosevelt when he didnt like when the court overturned some of his policy agenda. Its something that theres no set number of how many justices there have to be on the court. But when its deployed as a threat or retaliation, i think that does make people wonder just how many norms the left is willing to violate in search of raw power. Howie right. Its not unconstitutional, the number has varied over the years. Its a extreme position as fdr found out. A vanity fair writer tweeted how can barrett be a Supreme Court justice and a loving present mom to seven kids and likeening the family to the kardashians. I ask you as a new mother. What . I mean, its crazy. Id like to know how many men were asked that question, first off, and i would also like to ask anyone tweeting out things like that i saw several, actually if they would define themselves as feminist . How can you be a feminist and come out and say she cant manage to be a great mom and be a high powered judge. This is a very accomplished woman. And if people cant wrap their heads around that im a working home. I working mom. I have a 10monthold. Im talking to you guys. This is a woman who should be an example to young women everywhere, she shows you can have it all. She has a beautiful family. She has stood on principle for many years. She is someone who has a strong record that has been supported from bipartisan people, democrats and republicans alike have come out and said this is someone who really stands by the constitution, above and beyond all else. This is someone who should be celebrated. Shes accomplished. And listen, she will have her day to defend herself. She will be asked questions. There is no guarantee that she will be confirmed. If the senators dont like what she has to say, they have the option to vote no. Were talking about respecting the process. The president nominated someone who is accomplished. The senate will vote. The process will be respected. Any effort to circumvent that process shows you dont know and havent processed that elections have consequences and you have no appreciation for the fact that these things have a process. Howie okay. You know, Antonin Scalia had nine children, i dont recall him being asked about how he can simultaneously be a Supreme Court justice. I think she will be confirmed. Because republicans have the votes, like they have the votes to push ahead. We get into the question about what happened in 2016 versus now, why so little Media Attention to joe biden, also changing his position. Four years ago he demanded a vote for Barack Obamas nominee and now he says lets hold off on voting, the next president , whoever wins the election should decide and yet that gets very little Media Attention. The fact that were talking about it, i dont agree. I certainly saw it throughout the media. I think one of the reasons it gets little attention is joe bidens not in the senate and not voting, wasnt then, isnt now. To jedediahs point, if you have to follow the process, well, in 2016 they didnt follow the process. Senator Mitch Mcconnells process as he said was to block everything that barack obama was going to put forth and try and do and obviously that included trying to get Merrick Garland on the court. With regard to packing the court, honestly, im a liberal, im a democrat but i would like a fair court. Liberals and conservatives. And sixthree is not. I wouldnt want sixthree liberal either. Adding a couple seats to make it sixfive, that might be good. Its within the confines of the constitution. I agree 100 , the senate is going to confirm her because its a majority republican and they said they were going to confirm her before we knew who she was and, lastly, as a feminist with two children and a puppy sleeping upstairs, im working like you are, jedediah. Im with you on that. And i do think its wonderful as a woman who has adopted one of my children that she has seven children, two of which she adopted from haiti, and who are children of color, having interracial family, i respect and like that a lot. Howie very glad to hear you say that. Now, mollie, new polls out today, New York Times, washington post, 56 or 57 of people questioned say that whoever wins the election should fill the seat. But obviously a lot of charges thrown by the media at Mitch Mcconnell because of what he did to Merrick Garland and now hes pushing this thing two weeks before the election. Do you think the media have declared war on senator mcconnell. Yeah. One thing thats important to clarify, the 2016 was not to confirm someone in an election year, its you generally dont see confirmations where the senate is controlled by a Different Party than the presidency. That doesnt actually apply in 2020 because both the senate and the presidency are controlled by republicans. So it is a distinction that the media did a very bad job of explaining. I do think that one of the downsides of what the media did two years ago with kavanaugh is nobody trusts them to cover it accurately, fairly or remotely decently. Howie certainly hearing you covered intensively and wrote a book. An npr analyst has been all over tv touting her long friendship with Ruth Bader Ginsburg who married her and saying that helped her reporting but the public editor says the failure to fully disclose that friendship raises serious questions of journalistic independence. And i would agree. Cory lewandowski coming up on the program. When we come back, President Trump taking lots of media heat for what he wouldnt say about a peaceful transfer of power. Hi. Uh, can you tell me how to get to i70, please . Ookay, are you ah, yes. Thank you. Switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. You know, like the sign says. Howie the latest media outrage started with an atlantic piece by bart gelman, charging that President Trump is actively plotting ways to keep himself in power after a disputed election. And the president fueled the controversy with these comments. Will you commit to making sure there is a peaceful transfer of power after the election . Were going to have to see what happens. You know that. Ive been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster. Get rid of the ballots and youll hav well have a peacl there wont be a transfer, there will be a continuation. What the president is doing is the most explicit hes been about his plans, hes plotting, open, repeatedly, a coup to steal the election and hold onto power. Hes telling us that hes going to have to try to overturn the results of this democratic election. Because he knows hes going to lose. The president s skeptics, hugo, are going nuts over that response. Dont forget that its the democrats that never accepted donald trump and never accepted the legitimacy of his presidency. I dont think anyone in this country should seriously take the idea that were not going to have a peaceful transfer of power. Howie jedediah, this is a hair on fire moment for the media. You heard talk of a coup. The president more than one day refusing to give the answer the mead ya wanted to give. Is this the crisis or potential crisis being portrayed by the press . Listen, i dont think that the president s going to handcuff himself to the banister in the white house and not leave. I dont think its going to play out that way. But he shouldnt answer this question that way. Because in your introduction, howie, you said he fueled the story. He really does on this issue. I dont know why that is. When youre asked if theres going to be a peaceful transfer of power, if you are to lose an election, you just say yes and then you move on. Yes, of course. Next. Now, we can talk about all day whether joe biden would be asked the same question. We can talk about the media creating a hair on fire moment. Those are all valid points. When it comes down to it, he has the opportunity to shut this down in two seconds, to make it look like a petty question, to answer it very simply and move on. This is not the first time hes answered the question this way. So im hoping someone who is as advising him says listen, this story does not help you. It only enables joe biden to say you know what, im going to put a lid on everything at 8 30 in the morning the next day because this story only hurts the president so he should stop answerstopping stop answering that way. Howie the president is a very smart guy when it comes to media. He knows the pundits will go haywire when he says these things. Is he doing it to get out his message that in his view you there will be massive fraud for mail ballots. Is he really trolling the press here . The problem with the what i he answered is not what he said that got everybody angry, its that he didnt clarify exactly what his concerns are about moving to universal mailin balloting. The question was literally whether he would peacefully transfer power to joe biden regardless of whether he won or lost. It was a ridiculous question. His answer, which as jedediah notes, is his standard answer when asked if he will accept Election Results before an election has happened, was generous, given the i idiocy of the question. We are approaching a four Year Anniversary of an ongoing refusal that donald trump was a legitimate winner in 2016. We have an example of how he handled losses in 2018. He handled them appropriately. The left is advocating for coup like behavior in the possible event that donald trump wins reelection. So its not just that they themselves are talking about ways to gain power should they lose the election, theyve been doing it for four years and theyre accusing their opponents of doing that which they have done. Howie the New York Times has a story saying pentagon leaders are discussing how you to avoid having the military drawn into post election chaos, raising the possibility of the president invoking the insurrection act, sending troops into the streets. That seems like a speculative story. So if this happens, if this happens, what might the president or the pentagon do. I think thats our world right now, sadly, howie and the internet feeds into that. We speculate about everything. I mean, mollie was talking about the question posed to the president. There are people on my side of the aisle speculating the president wont leave. When he answers the way he did, it fuels the flames if you will and i think that taunting goes back and forth. Look, there have been people that talked about the insurrection act, people on the left and the right that have talked about cities burning if their candidate doesnt win. Sadly, weve become such a divided nation, even more so, and i think because many of us are stuck at home and some people are angry that they have to social distance and wear a mask when we have a pandemic like this, high unemployment, and tempers flare, sadly we have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. But to use our military when we have situations throughout the world, afghanistan is just one of many examples, thats too much on their plate and thats why those in the pentagon, top leaders have said they would step down if that becomes the case because they have to do what they have to do as the military and policing the American People after an election should not be one of those things. Howie you know, this 10,000 word cover story in the la atlac was pushed up by publishing online. The article says the president is working with Republican Leaders in certain states to try to get his electors in. Some people thought it was crazy. Some people thought it was great discussion. Thanks so much. Jedediah bila, for staying late with us. Mollie hemingway, Leslie Marshall. Up next, Harris Faulkner joins us two days before the first president ial debate moderated by Chris Wallace to look at