Last week at a pro-abortion rally, Senate Majority Leader Schumer verbally threatened Supreme Court Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch 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!” in reference to abortion.
When Chief Justice Roberts responded calling Schumer’s comments “inappropriate” and “dangerous.” Schumer’s office then doubled down, accusing Justice Roberts of “following the right wing.”
Schumer later issued a non-pology on the Senate floor, blamed his “harsh language” from his Brooklyn upbringing. It was weaksauce on a good day.
Now, some Republican lawmakers and conservative leaders want Schumer censured for his threats.
Sen. Hawley introduced a resolution which had the backing of 14 other Republican Senators, calling for Schumer to be censured. From Fox News:
Hawley’s resolution, which was co-sponsored by 14 senators, called for Schumer to be censured for the comments, which it describes as “an attempt to unduly influence the judicial decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States and to undermine the vision of the founders of the United States of the ‘complete independence of the courts of justice.'”Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., took to the Senate floor Thursday morning to condemn Schumer’s comments. “There is nothing to call this except a threat,” McConnell said, claiming that Schumer was “trying to gaslight the entire country” by claiming that he was only addressing Republican lawmakers.Schumer responded by claiming he was “passionate” and “angry” about the threat towards women’s ability to get abortions that the court case represented. He did not apologize to the justices, but admitted that he “should not have used the words I used,” and that “they didn’t come out the way I intended to.”Hawley was not swayed by this, tweeting that Schumer was following a recent trend of Democrats threatening the Supreme Court. A group of Democratic senators in August filed a brief in a gun control case in which they accused the Supreme Court of being “not well” and warning that if it does not “heal itself,” it could be “restructured.” This was taken as a warning that the Democrats would attempt to pack the court by increasing the number of justices and loading the bench with liberals once a Democrat is back in the White House.”Schumer’s threats to Gorsuch & Kavanaugh is part of pattern of Democrat attacks on the #SupremeCourt,” Hawley said. “Dems have threatened to pack it; now they’re threatening Justices personally. This is insane. It’s wrong. Schumer should be censured.
Conservative leaders have also called for censure:
Dozens of well-known conservative leaders signed a letter released Monday that calls for the censure of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer after the New York Democrat allegedly threatened Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch last week.
Those who signed the letter include former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint; former Ronald Reagan campaign adviser Ed Rollins; Republican Attorneys General Association Chairman and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry; and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, among others.
The open letter to U.S. senators, organized by the pro-Trump Article III Project, which is dedicated to helping get the president’s judicial nominees confirmed, says that Schumer’s previous apology for the remarks was insufficient and cites Chief Justice John Roberts’ statement which called Schumer’s remarks “not only inappropriate” but “dangerous.” It calls for the Senate to censure him.
But should Republicans censure Schumer?
On the one hand, there’s the fatigue that comes with three years of a political witch hunt for naught, and the impeachment sideshow circus, both of which inflicted substantial damage to Democrats. Which provides a case to leave it alone. Schumer overstepped. He knows it. He was slapped down by Justice Roberts. He was forced to (kind of) recant. And his actions simply prove that Democrats have become so hyper-partisan, their rhetoric is truly out of control. Informed voters can and will see as much.
Buuuuut, threatening justices is no laughing matter. It’s quite serious and eclipses political rhetoric. Neither is saying “I’m from Brooklyn” a sufficient defense. It’s unfortunate that language has been so obliterated by outrage culture. When everything is outrageous, nothing is outrageous. So while feigning outrage might score points in broad culture desperate to secure the right to murder the unborn (Schumer’s immediate audience in this incident), his threats out to be taken seriously, culture aside. Failure to penalize legitimate threats of violence risks normalizing and green lighting even more threats of violence.
TL;DR: Heck yes.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY