Karl Rove did his best to try to have his cake and eat it too when it comes to the Republicans holding up the confirmation of Loretta Lynch for Attorney General on this weekend's Fox News Sunday. Rove knows full well the optics are awful and damaging to his party, but he couldn't help himself with wanting to take the opportunity to attack the Democrats on the issue of abortion.
As we've already discussed here, ever since Rand Paul went on the air and tried to turn the abortion debate on its head, the talking heads over at Fox have been doing their best to help him along. Rove treated the viewers to more of the same during his dust up with Juan Williams today:
WALLACE: Now, Lynch was nominated almost six months ago, back in November. I guess I had two questions. One, what do you think of the holdup of the nomination? And two, do you think it's something that Republicans -- that Democrats can use effectively against Republicans and make them pay a political price for holding up the nomination of a black woman to a top position?
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, and the answer to your first question is, I think this is more political than racial. But, yes, there is a big risk for the Republicans in a race, especially with Hillary Clinton as a likely Democratic nominee in a contest that will focus on the possibility of the first woman president to be six months suspending up the nomination of a black woman, who is imminently qualified. I think both sides say she's been a skilled prosecutor, tough on crimes, tough on terrorism, just terrific and she's being held up. The second risk again in a year of women is, the abortion issue in terms of the human trafficking bill, is what -- is causing this delay. And ...
WALLACE: And holding up her nomination until they settle this issue about a human trafficking.
WILLIAMS: Correct. And what Mitch McConnell has said, because now there are five Republicans who said they will vote with the Democrats to confirm it, there's a vote as you saw President Obama calling for, she'll be confirmed. This is all about Mitch McConnell, and they say, let's hold up on this till we get these other issue settled. And that again creates something that Democrats will be able to use to beat Republicans about the head in terms of the war on women.
WALLACE: Let me just ask you, Karl, we have got a about a minute left. At a time when Republicans want to show that they're reaching out to minorities, does it make sense, political sense to hold up this nomination?
ROVE: No, it doesn't. From that perspective. But here's the other perspective. The Democrats are using the human trafficking bill's language that's been there for 40 years, regarding the use of federal funds for abortion. They're saying, our price for passing this bill, the high ( ph) language in the -- language in the trafficking bill is, you've got to remove it. And so the Democrats -- the Republicans have got very few levers to say to the Democrats, we want to keep in place the language that's been approved on a bipartisan basis for 40 years. That's what this is all about --
WILLIAMS: That stuff is lost in the weeds..
ROVE: I get it. I get it. I get it. It gets lost in the weeds. But nonetheless, it is an important point of principle. And it's important to remember, Democrats are trying to undo like 40 year bipartisan agreement that no federal funds will be used for abortion in a bill that has ...
WALLACE: Do you continue to hold up?
ROVE: Well, look, I'm not a senator. And I say, I see it both ways. But the Republicans in the Senate are trying to do this. And the Democrats are trying to play to the abortion crowd by saying, let's undo the language that's been there for 40 years.
HUME: The votes are there to confirm her. When this is straightened out, she'll be confirmed and presently, she'll be our Attorney General, and the votes by an overwhelming vote. And all of the rest of this will recede into the background as detail and I don't think it will be around long enough as an issue to affect in one way or the other.
ROVE: And Democrats don't want to have vote in the Senate to undo the language. They want the Republicans to remove the language so they don't have to go on the record saying I'm in favor of using federal funds for abortion.
WILLIAMS: But Karl, the Republicans ...
(CROSSTALK)
ROVE: Do you think Joe Manchin -- do you think Joe Manchin wants to vote?
WILLIAMS: The Republicans hid this language ...
(CROSSTALK)
ROVE: He wants to go ...
(CROSSTALK)
ROVE: The Democrats.
(CROSSTALK)
ROVE: It was right there in the bill. And the Democrats (INAUDIBLE) voted for it.
WILLIAMS: And now they are punishing this black woman. That's crazy.
ROVE: Juan, it really gets -- it's dangerous for you to keep doing this kind of staff and for me having to correct you. The language was in the bill. The Democratic sponsored.
(CROSSTALK)
ROVE: No, it wasn't. The Democrat sponsor admits it was in the bill and she voted for it.
WALLACE: This is why God invented commercials.
Rove knows full well that Republicans did not act in good faith when it comes to those provisions being added to the bill, but that's not going to stop him from lying about it on Fox. Anything to keep their right-wing "conservative Christian" base worked up into a frenzy over the issue of abortion.
