Nutjob Blow: Doctor’s Visits Don’t Require ID, But Airlines Requiring Them Keeps Poors Out

Less than 24 hours after throwing an infantile temper tantrum on CNN NewsNight by calling the New York Post’s Lydia Monyihan a “child,” far-left New York Times columnist Charles Blow falsely claimed Thursday on CNN’s The Arena during a debate on election integrity that doctors’ offices do not require proof of identification and, by requiring ID, airlines discriminate against poor people. 

The panel was previewing President Trump’s upcoming primetime address that was expected to include mentions of new information about the 2020 election when former Congressman Garrett Graves (R-LA) expressed hope the President would focus on ID and emphasize any “new evidence about foreign interference.” 

Initially, Blow replied “we’ve always known” hostile foreign actors “try to influence elections,” and the only beneficiaries of Thursday’s address would be Trump and Republicans seeking to “poison the American public’s view of the election system.”

Graves countered this was why he “hope[s] he brings up voter ID laws,” adding: “I have to show my ID to get on the airplane today, and I hope that he brings that up as well in terms of improving election integrity.” 

It was here Blow blew past reality and into his typical cockamamie, often race-based chicanery. 

“You know why poor people never get on an airplane? Because they can’t afford [an ID],” Blow declared, ignoring the part about airlines and the government needing to ensure no criminal actors or terrorists board planes who might seek to use them as weapons. 

Graves delivered the doctor reference: “You know what they do, Charles? They go to the doctor.” 

Blow interjected with his farcical claim that “you don’t have to show government ID to go to the doctor.” 

Back to CNN and when the former Republican congressman said he does “every time I go to the doctor,” Blow descended into scum territory by both moving the goal posts and going personal: “That’s your doctor. Have you been a poor person in America who had to go to the doctor? You do not have to show a government ID every time you go to the doctor.” 

Graves started to say “we can go through all the things” that require ID, but Blow sophomorically continued his own thought about medical offices being ID-free zones: “Just in — just in case you don’t know that. Thank you.” 

The conservative guest hung in there, again challenging Blow to “go through all the things you have to do to show an ID, there is absolutely no discrimination” and that “[t]here are ways to get IDs without causing financial harm on people.” 

For example, here is a link to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles explaining how someone could go about obtaining one, without having to pay or pass a driving test. For Blow’s own city of New York, the communist commune has its own webpage devoted to it.

The condescending liberal didn’t care about this because, in his world, he’s never wrong: “Pretending there’s no discrimination is crazy!” 

As we often see on CNN NewsNight with either referee stoppages by host Abby Phillip to benefit a defeated liberal or to move things along to save further embarrassment, The Arena host Kasie Hunt jumped into save Blow from further explosions of buffonery: “This — this is a — this is a critical debate that, of course, is being had broadly. But I’d like to keep us focused on what we’re going to see tonight.” 

While Blow might argue someone’s insurance card is enough proof of identification, doctor’s offices require an identification as backup to prove, well, the person they’re seeing matches up with their insurance card. 

Healthline — a major news site for the industry — wrote this in a June 2025 article under the title “What Paperwork Do I Need to Bring to a Doctor’s Appointment?” (click “expand”): 

You can check which papers or information you need to bring with you to a doctor’s appointment when you first set it up. Typically, you’ll need: 

• a government-issued photo ID 
• health insurance card(s) 
• a list of current medications and supplements with the frequency and dosage for each 
• recent test results (as directed by the medical professional) 
• referral forms (if required) 
• copay (your out-of-pocket financial responsibility, established by your insurance plan) 

You may not need to bring all of the above or bring the information to every doctor’s appointment. It’s a good idea to check with the medical practice when you make the appointment. 

As an established patient, you may only need to provide insurance and medical information a second time if something has changed since you last saw the doctor. 

Back in 2009, Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) Health News said a new government rule was in the works requiring ID to cut down on what was “about 250,000 cases each year” of medical theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 

To see the relevant CNN transcript from July 16, click here.