Chuck Schumer threatens Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, John Roberts responds
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made personal attacks against Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, threatening that they “pay a price” if they voted against his political belief in a new abortion rights case.
“I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price!” Schumer said, speaking at a rally earlier Wednesday outside the court.
photo/ donkeyhotey
The remarks immediately came under attack, including by President Trump.
Trump called Schumer’s statements a “disgrace to the Supreme Court and to the U.S. Senate.”
“I was amazed by it, and if that were a Republican, you would see really bad things happening,” he said. “It’s very unequal justice and it’s a disgrace that he was able to say something like that.”
Chief Justice John Roberts delivered a rare public rebuke of a sitting member of Congress on Wednesday, accusing Schumer of making “dangerous” threats against two justices by name.
“Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.”
Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman quickly responded by accusing Roberts of bias, further escalating the confrontation. Goodman insisted that Schumer was addressing Republican lawmakers when he said a “price” would be paid.
“Women’s health care rights are at stake and Americans from every corner of the country are in anguish about what the court might do to them,” Goodman said in a statement to Fox News. “Sen. Schumer’s comments were a reference to the political price Senate Republicans will pay for putting these justices on the court, and a warning that the justices will unleash a major grassroots movement on the issue of reproductive rights against the decision.”
He added: “For Justice Roberts to follow the right wing’s deliberate misinterpretation of what Sen. Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices [Sonia] Sotomayor and [Ruth Bader] Ginsberg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes.”
As the pressure mounted, Schumer finally apologized, hiding behind a New York label of being brash and rude.
“I should not have used the words I used yesterday,” Schumer said on the Senate floor Thursday morning, referring to comments he made at an abortion rights rally Wednesday on the Supreme Court steps, singling out Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavenaugh by name as they were hearing oral arguments in the first abortion-related case they have considered since joining the court.
“My point was that there would be political consequences, political consequences, for President Trump and Senate Republicans if the Supreme Court, with the newly confirmed justice, stripped away a women’s right to choose. Of course I didn’t intend to suggest anything other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court, and it is a gross distortion to imply otherwise,” he said.
“I’m from Brooklyn,” Schumer added. “We speak in strong language, I shouldn’t have use the words i did, but in no way was i making a threat. I would never do such a thing.”
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