Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is responding to suggestions that he threatened Supreme Court justices during a rally.
Schumer spoke in support of abortion rights, arguing that the courts are working to strike down women’s’ rights, outside of the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
The senator told the crowd, “I want to tell you, Gorsuch; I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: 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.”
On Thursday during a speech on the floor of the Senate, Schumer said, “I’m from Brooklyn, we speak in strong language.”
He continued:
“I shouldn’t have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat. I never, never would do such a thing and Leader McConnell knows that. And Republicans who are busy manufacturing outrage over these comments know that too.”
Watch Schumer’s comments below:
Schumer’s remarks on the floor followed remarks by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) who condemned the minority leader, saying, “The minority leader of the United States Senate threatened two associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.” He also called Schumer’s remarks “astonishingly reckless and completely irresponsible.”
Watch McConnell’s comments below:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Chuck Schumer’s comments: “astonishingly reckless and completely irresponsible”https://t.co/Bfy4r3Xa7W pic.twitter.com/4XhZc4nTs9
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 5, 2020
In a rare public statement, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts offered a rebuke of Schumer’s statements. Roberts said, “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.”
Even Trump, who is also from New York and is known for his coarse dialogue, said, “As far as Schumer is concerned, it was a terrible thing he said. I was amazed by it and if that were a Republican you would see really bad things happening. It is very unequal justice, and it is a disgrace that he was able to say something like that.”
