CNN Tonight presenter Don Lemon has urged US presidential candidate Joe Biden "blow up the entire system" if elected.
During his nightly handover exchange with Cuomo Prime Time host Chris Cuomo on Monday night, the outspoken anchor said Democrats could "stack the courts" and use judges to abolish the electoral college system of presidential elections. His comments crew fire from Twitter conservatives.
"You're going to have to get rid of the Electoral College," insisted Lemon. "Because the minority in this country get to decide who our judges are and who our president is. Is that fair?"
Cuomo, the brother of Democratic New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and son of former governor Mario Cuomo, pointed out "You need a constitutional amendment to do that."
— Steve Cortes (@CortesSteve) September 22, 2020
"And if Joe Biden wins, Democrats can stack the courts and they can do that amendment and get it passed," he claimed.
"Well, you need two-thirds vote in the Congress and three-quarters of the state legislatures," Cuomo corrected him again. Lemon was undaunted however, and blithely replied: "They may be able to do that."
President Donald Trump has sparked outrage among Democrats in recent days by insisting he has the right to appoint a replacement for late liberal Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away at the age of 87 on Friday. Ginsburg's death gives Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate have the opportunity to stack the Supreme court with a 6-3 majority of conservatives.
— Trump War Room - Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) September 22, 2020
— W.E. Dupree (@WayneDupreeShow) September 22, 2020
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) September 22, 2020
Under the 'electoral college' system of US presidential elections, each state is allocated a number of electors based on its population. In all but two states, the candidate who gets the most ballots wins the votes of all the electors, similar to the 'first past the post' system of UK Parliamentary elections.
Only four of the 45 US presidents have won an election with fewer votes overall than their opponent, including George W Bush in 2000 - but not 2004 - and Trump in 2016.
