Schumer cites B’klyn roots in Supremes flap

Chuck Schumer is bringing some Brooklyn tough talk to Capitol Hill.

The New York senator cited his Kings County roots Thursday while offering a nonapology for his controversial comments about a couple of Supreme Court justices, saying that, where he’s from, people “speak in strong language.”

Schumer’s backhanded mea culpa came in response to growing Republican outrage over his assertion Wednesday that Trump-appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh would “pay the price” if they vote against abortion rights in a case currently before their bench.

“I should not have used the words I used yesterday. They didn’t come out the way I intended them to,” Schumer said from the floor of the Senate. “I’m from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language. 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.”

Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, suggested Republicans knew he wasn’t making a threat and that they’re misrepresenting his comments to deflect from the issue at hand.

“Republicans are afraid, here in the Senate, to confront this issue directly, so they try to accomplish through the courts what they’d never accomplish in the court of public opinion. And they leave women out in the cold,” Schumer said. “So yes, I am angry. The women of America are angry. And, yes, we will continue to fight for a woman’s right to choose.”

Schumer made the “pay the price” slight while speaking at a pro-choice rally outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning, as Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and the seven other justices heard arguments in a potentially crucial abortion rights case out of Louisiana.

“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. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Before Schumer spoke on the floor Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell read the New York Democrat’s remarks into the record.

Men from Cameroon wait in a rented apartment in Tijuana, Mexico, until their names are called to claim asylum in the U.S.