Jennifer Welch Says Democrats Haven't Fought Back Since Bush v. Gore

Jennifer Welch, co-host of the progressive podcast I've Had It, faulted the Democratic Party for what she called decades of failing to fight back. She traced the problem to the party's response after the Supreme Court decided the 2000 presidential election.

Welch made the remarks in a tangent that began with the weather. She said climate change is the kind of issue that makes her angry about the 2000 race, which Al Gore lost after the Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore.

"The Republican Party with the rigging of the Supreme Court stole that election from us and the Democrats just still kept going didn't do anything about the Supreme Court after that," Welch said. "I've had it with the Democrats not really fighting back and this goes way way way way way back before Donald Trump."

What Happened in Bush v. Gore

"Stole" and "rigging" are Welch's own words for what happened. On December 12, 2000, the Supreme Court halted the Florida recount in an unsigned opinion. Seven justices agreed that the recount ordered by Florida's top court had constitutional problems, but only five voted to end it rather than send it back for a new process.

Welch's complaint that Democrats did nothing about the court since then is broadly supported by the record, though the party did not do nothing at all. In April 2021, President Joe Biden created a bipartisan commission to study the court. Its draft report, released that December, took no position on expanding the bench or imposing term limits, and no reforms came of it.

That same spring, Democrats introduced the Judiciary Act of 2021, which would have added four seats to the court. Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to commit to bringing it to the floor, and the bill never got a vote. In July 2024, Biden called for 18-year term limits and a binding ethics code for the justices. Congress did not pass either.

Welch's Post-Watergate Turnout Claim

Welch then turned to what she called "a little hopium." She did not say which article she was referring to.

"I read an article that said that the people that look at polling and voter turnout and really really study this are projecting a turnout larger than that of the post Watergate scandal," she said, adding that such a turnout would say "stick it in your face MAGA."

The 1974 midterm is remembered for its Democratic wave, not its turnout. That year, 39.1 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, according to U.S. Elections Project data compiled by University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald. Turnout topped that mark in seven of the 12 midterms since, including 2018, when it hit 50 percent, the highest for a midterm in more than a century. In 2022, turnout was 46.1 percent.

Democrats do hold an edge heading into November. They lead Republicans 47.8 percent to 40.3 percent on the generic congressional ballot in PolitiKool's polling average.

What Welch Wants Democrats to Do With a Win

Welch said a big turnout should also "send a message to the Democrats right fight fight get in there and fight these people get dirty."

She was specific about how far that should go: "investigate everything all the way down to Barron start at the top right end with Barron." Barron Trump is the president's youngest son.

Her co-host, Angie "Pumps" Sullivan, went further. She called for impeachments of administration officials and said, "I want a brand-new Supreme Court." Sullivan also called for a forensic accounting of the Trump family's finances.

House Democrats are drawing up a similar agenda, though a narrower one. ABC News reported Saturday that the party plans broad oversight of the administration if it wins the House. The plans include investigating the Trump family's business dealings, and impeachment of Cabinet officials has not been ruled out.

"If folks have been stealing from the American people, shortchanging the American people or screwing over the American people, we are going to hold the crooks accountable," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.

How hard Democrats would push with a majority is unclear, and so is whether the White House would comply with subpoenas. No Democratic leader has put forward a Supreme Court overhaul like the one Sullivan described.