Tuesday was a busy day at the Supreme Court that was headlined by the upholding of birthright citizenship and state laws that sought to protect the competitive integrity of female sports. However, the Court also cited the First Amendment and free speech when it struck down a campaign finance law that limited how much money political parties can spend on candidates, which led MS NOW and CNN to suffer epic meltdowns at the news they considered to be the latest example in Republicans’ war on democracy. MS NOW Reports host Antonia Hylton simply put the ball on the tee for Brookings Institute senior fellow and Democracy Defenders Fund founder Norm Eisen when she declared, “Norm, I want your big picture take on what the Court has done to the curtain that I think at least Americans used to think there was between big money and their political voice.”   MS NOW suffered an epic melt down after the Supreme Court struck down party donation limits, citing the First Amendment. Antonia Hylton asked Norm Eisen "I want your big picture take on what the Court has done to the curtain that I think at least Americans used to think there was… pic.twitter.com/LvCdns7Ysl — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) June 30, 2026   The melodramatic Eisen began his response by claiming the ruling was a corrupt handout to the GOP, “Republicans who love this big, dark corporate money that is devastating our country went to their Republican colleagues on the Supreme Court, and they got an exemption to pump more of that corporate cash that has so broken our country, Antonia, and devastated the lives of working people to pour more of that money into the swamp.” The First Amendment is not an “exemption.” It’s the rule. Nevertheless, Eisen was then unwittingly torn between his narrative that money buys elections and some self-promotion proving that it doesn’t: But let me tell you, the American people are not going to tolerate that. Individual candidates have a small donor advantage on the Democratic side. This corruption of our political system with big money, as you saw on the screen, is rejected by a super-majority of Americans at Democracy Defenders Action, for example, we fought Elon Musk when he tried to outspend pro-reform candidates for the Supreme Court in Wisconsin. We — the big money turned that into a race, the people versus Musk, and they rejected him, even though he outspent by a factor of many times.  Getting back to the corruption allegations, Eisen was more explicit, “So, I think this is part of the reason that the Republican Party is so corrupt. We need to say that candidly, that their fellow Republican justices on the Supreme Court have gone ahead to break the playing field and let this huge flood of corporate and other dark cash into the system know the American people, irrespective of party, don't want that.” He then demanded, “We need to have Supreme Court reform, for example, term limits, and we need Congress to pass sane laws. This is no way to run a democracy. The American people of all parties hate it.” Over at CNN, chief congressional correspondent and Inside Politics guest host Manu Raju framed the ruling in terms of how it will benefit Republicans, “Just look at the amount of money that the NRSC, the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which brought this case. $48.9 million that they have compared to the Democrats’ 38.9 million. That’s the Senate side. And it's — you compare it to the other outside groups as well, significant. So, that's why they can make up for that disparity.”   Over at CNN, NPR host Ayesha Rascoe claimed, "It's a huge deal, right? I mean, and then you couple that with the Voting Rights—being Voting Rights Act really being gutted. I mean, these are having impacts when people vote. . I do think that, you know, this is something where you… pic.twitter.com/T9CsC7z4mB — Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) June 30, 2026   NPR host Ayesha Rascoe agreed and tried to tie the case to other recent Court rulings, “It's a huge deal, right? I mean, and then you couple that with the Voting Rights—being Voting Rights Act really being gutted. I mean, these are having impacts when people vote. I do think that, you know, this is something where you often talk to people, they want to get money out of politics. But the Supreme Court has went in the totally opposite direction.” She also claimed, “I do think that ultimately that does lead to a disconnect, right? Like people are going to go to cast their ballots in November, but are they actually being heard and represented? And, like, when you have decisions like this that seem to go against the popular will.” The Supreme Court is supposed to rule on the basis of the Constitution, not “popular will.” Understanding that should be the bare minimum for any media person talking about the Court. Here are transcripts for the June 30 shows: MS NOW Reports 6/30/2026 11:43 AM ET ANTONIA HYLTON: Norm, I want your big picture take on what the Court has done to the curtain that I think at least Americans used to think there was between big money and their political voice. NORM EISEN: Republicans who love this big, dark corporate money that is devastating our country went to their Republican colleagues on the Supreme Court, and they got an exemption to pump more of that corporate cash that has so broken our country, Antonia, and devastated the lives of working people to pour more of that money into the swamp. But let me tell you, the American people are not going to tolerate that. Individual candidates have a small donor advantage on the Democratic side. This corruption of our political system with big money, as you saw on the screen, is rejected by a super-majority of Americans at Democracy Defenders Action, for example, we fought Elon Musk when he tried to outspend pro-reform candidates for the Supreme Court in Wisconsin. We — the big money turned that into a race, the people versus Musk, and they rejected him, even though he outspent by a factor of many times.  So, I think this is part of the reason that the Republican Party is so corrupt. We need to say that candidly, that their fellow Republican justices on the Supreme Court have gone ahead to break the playing field and let this huge flood of corporate and other dark cash into the system know the American people, irrespective of party, don't want that. And you are going to see a resounding rejection of this at the polls in November. We need to have Supreme Court reform, for example, term limits, and we need Congress to pass sane laws. This is no way to run a democracy. The American people of all parties hate it. *** CNN Inside Politics with Dana Bash 6/30/2026 12:20 PM ET MANU RAJU: Just look at the amount of money that the NRSC, the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which brought this case. $48.9 million that they have compared to the Democrats’ 38.9 million. That’s the Senate side. And it's — you compare it to the other outside groups as well, significant. So, that's why they can make up for that disparity. AYESHA RASCOE: It's a huge deal, right? I mean, and then you couple that with the Voting Rights—being Voting Rights Act really being gutted. I mean, these are having impacts when people vote. I do think that, you know, this is something where you often talk to people, they want to get money out of politics. But the Supreme Court has went in the totally opposite direction. And I do think that ultimately that does lead to a disconnect, right? Like people are going to go to cast their ballots in November, but are they actually being heard and represented? And, like, when you have decisions like this that seem to go against the popular will.