Schumer said Republicans were “manufacturing outrage” against him, insisting that he was only trying to make a point about Republicans “working hand in glove” with the courts to undermine abortion rights. He said he was only referring to the “political price” Republicans would pay for having voted to confirm Kavanaugh and Gorsuch to the court.
Schumer’s remarks came after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday accused him of trying to “bully our nation’s independent judiciary,” a day after Roberts condemned Schumer for “threatening” the two justices.
In a scathing address from the Senate floor, McConnell (R-Ky.) also attacked the Democratic Party as a whole, accusing lawmakers of undermining and threatening U.S. institutions. He said Schumer’s comments were “astonishingly reckless and completely irresponsible.”
“He literally directed the statement to the justices, by name,” McConnell said. “The minority leader of the United States Senate threatened two associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court. Period.”
Schumer was roundly criticized, including by some liberal legal scholars, for his comments on Wednesday. Speaking to the activists in front of the Supreme Court building, Schumer called out Gorsuch and Kavanaugh by name, saying: “You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
The remarks prompted Roberts to release a rare statement rebuking the minority leader. “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,” Roberts said. “All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.”
For more than 15 minutes, McConnell laid into Schumer and portrayed the New York Democrat’s comments as a wider problem among the progressive movement. He accused Democrats of “rampant” anti-institutionalist rhetoric and said Democrats “appear more interested in attacking the institutions of our government than in working within them.”
“As long as this majority holds the gavel, we will never let the minority leader’s dangerous views become policy,” McConnell said. “This majority will ensure the only casualties of this recklessness are the reputations of those who engage in it.”
McConnell’s fellow Republicans were also piling on, taking to the Senate floor and social media to harangue Schumer and urge him to apologize. President Donald Trump, too, took to Twitter on Wednesday night to criticize Schumer for a “direct and dangerous threat” against the Supreme Court.
But some of Schumer’s Democratic colleagues were eager to back his mea culpa or defend him.
“I believe he also said his words were not appropriate and I support him in that,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said when asked about his comments at her press conference Thursday.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said it was ironic that Trump was condemning Schumer for verbal attacks since the president has previously attacked the federal judiciary.
At least one Democrat, though, said Schumer’s remarks were inappropriate.
“It was a very poor choice of words,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said.
Sarah Ferris contributed to this story.
Source: politico.com
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