Schumer regrets saying justices would ‘pay price’
WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Thursday that he “should not have used the words I used” when he declared at a rally in front of the Supreme Court that two justices would “pay the price” for their decision in an abortion case.
Republicans chastised Schumer for the remark and Chief Justice John Roberts in a rare rebuke said the words were “inappropriate” and “dangerous.” Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., called Schumer’s words “astonishingly reckless and completely irresponsible” and said they could have “horrific unintended consequences.” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, floated the idea of a censure.
Schumer directed the comments at Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh while a significant abortion case was being argued at the high court.
“You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You will not know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,” Schumer said, naming the two appointees of President Donald Trump, according to video of the rally.
Schumer did not back down from the comments Wednesday evening, with his spokesman criticizing Roberts as not remaining impartial. But Schumer clarified the next morning that he meant political consequences for the justices, not physical ones. He said it was a “gross distortion” to imply otherwise.
“I’m from Brooklyn, we speak in strong language,” Schumer said. “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.”
He said he made the comments because he feels passionately about protecting abortion rights.
“I feel so deeply, the anger of women all across America,” Schumer said. “About Senate Republicans and the courts, working hand in glove to take down Roe v Wade.”
The dust-up was the latest in a series of politically charged moments around the Supreme Court — and those two justices, in particular. Republicans are still nursing resentments from Kavanaugh’s contentious confirmation after he faced decades-old allegations of sexual assault. Democrats are still angry about McConnell’s 2016 decision not to confirm a new justice after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia while President Barack Obama was still in office. Trump nominated Gorsuch for that position after he became president.
Schumer spoke for less than four minutes at the rally Wednesday, just as arguments got underway in the first major abortion case since Gorsuch and Kavanaugh joined the court. The Democrat invoked the two justices whose nominations he opposed, giving a thumbs-down gesture to provoke boos from the crowd.
His reference to a “whirlwind” hearkened back to Kavanaugh’s own passionate opening statement at a 2018 confirmation hearing. The judge lashed out at Democrats who had criticized him as the panel reviewed the sexual assault allegations.
“I fear the country will reap the whirlwind,” Kavanaugh said then.