Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday said he regrets using language about two Supreme Court justices that many said could incite violence.
At issue, were comments Schumer made on Wednesday outside the Supreme Court the same day the justices heard an abortion case involving a Louisiana law that requires abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of the clinic.
Pro-choice groups fear the case could lead to the dismantling of Roe v. Wade.
Schumer, a Democrat from New York, on Wednesday called out President Trump’s two Supreme Court nominees, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
“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 at a rally outside the court. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
Chief Justice John Roberts, in a rare rebuke of a political figure, issued a statement about Schumer’s comments.
“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 in a written statement. “All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter.”
On Thursday, Schumer said he regretted the comments, although he also said Republicans were “manufacturing outrage.”
“I should not have used the words I used yesterday,” he said. “They did not come out the way I intended to. My point was there would be political consequences for President Trump and Senate Republicans if the Supreme Court ... stripped away a women's right to choose.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, also criticized Schumer’s comments.
“Senator Schumer’s threats against Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are absolutely abhorrent,” she said. “Just when you think Democratic Party leaders can’t sink any lower when it comes to their abortion extremism, they incite violence against Supreme Court justices who they see as a threat to their agenda.”
This November, the voters will ensure Schumer and his allies are the ones who ‘pay the price’ for their horrific abortion agenda and equally horrific behavior.
— Susan B. Anthony List (@SBAList) March 5, 2020
- @marjoriesba condemns Sen. Schumer for inciting violence against both #SCOTUS justices and innocent unborn children pic.twitter.com/9hxumXs1d0
Related:
Supreme Court Could Make Roe ‘Meaningless’ with Major Case Wednesday
207 Members of Congress Ask Supreme Court to Overturn Roe v. Wade
Trump Admin. Urges Supreme Court to Uphold Pro-Life Law, Citing Gosnell ‘Atrocities’
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Alex Wong/Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
