Vice President Mike Pence issued rare public criticism for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network to be released Thursday, Pence rebuked Roberts, a nominee of President George W. Bush, for a wide range of decisions he feels isn’t reflective of conservative jurisprudence.
“We have great respect for the institution of the Supreme Court of the United States, but Chief Justice John Roberts has been a disappointment to conservatives,” Pence said to the network’s David Brody. “Whether it be the Obamacare decision or whether it be a spate of recent decisions all the way through Calvary Chapel.”
“The recent decision, and again, a narrow Supreme Court decision striking down a Louisiana pro-life law that only said that doctors working in abortion clinics would have to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. That’s a very modest restriction on abortion providers,” Pence said of the high court’s narrow ruling in June Medical Services v. Russo, which was possible in part because of Roberts’s concurring opinion with the liberal minority.
The vice president said Roberts’s behavior was a “wake-up call” for anti-abortion advocates, adding that the “destiny of the Supreme Court is on the ballot in 2020.”
EXCLUSIVE: Vice President Mike Pence calls out Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts by name. He says, “Chief Justice Roberts has been a disappointment to conservatives.” Watch from my interview with @VP in Florida today. Full report on @700club Thursday + clips on @CBNNews pic.twitter.com/z6IANVONr5
— David Brody (@DavidBrodyCBN) August 6, 2020
Pence said that if President Trump is reelected, he would fill Supreme Court vacancies with conservative jurists. In Trump’s first term, the Senate has confirmed two of the president’s Supreme Court nominees, Neil Gorsuch, who replaced the late Justice Antonin Scalia in 2017, and Brett Kavanaugh, who succeeded Justice Anthony Kennedy in 2018.
