Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah has found himself in the public crosshairs again. This time after his "extreme" criticism of HR.1 - the "For the People" voting bill designed to secure voting rights and access for all Americans.
The bill would essentially catch the US up to the way voting is done in other developed nations by implementing automatic voting registration, expanding mail-in voting and restore voting rights to some felons, among other things.
The GOP is not a fan of the bill, but Republican Senator Michael Shumway Lee is more passionate and outspoken about it than many. He went on FOX news to discuss the bill and ended up dropping a sound bite people described as extreme and ridiculous.
He claimed the bill encouraging voting is "rotten to the core. This is a bill as if written in Hell by the devil himself."
That quote was read during the Morning Joe broadcast on MSNBC.
It made the panel erupt with laughter.
The interaction started with Mika Brzezinski reading the quote. She made it through without laughing, which is more than we can say for co-host Joe Scarborough.
There was a lot of this face, though.
MSNBC
Scarborough passed the floor to White House correspondent Jonathan Lemire with this lead in:
"So, Jonathan, they're saying that Satan drafted—Mike Lee is saying Satan drafted a bill that's meant to get more Americans involved in democracy."
To which Lemire dead-pan responded:
"That's an unlikely move for Lucifer."
Lemire did go on to speak more seriously to the current GOP tone and Mike Lee's criticisms, but it was this moment of laughter that really resonated with people.
The Morning Joe panelists weren't the only ones laughing or cringing at Lee.
Only Lee can explain why he thinks Satan is pro-voting rights for all United States citizens regardless of race, religion, national origin or socioeconomic status.
And only the GOP can explain why they're so against that.
