Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backed down from an apparent threat against Supreme Court justices but said his words were aimed at Republicans and “public opinion” related to the high court’s decisions on reproductive rights.
“Of course, I didn’t intend to suggest anything other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court,” Schumer said during a Senate floor speech on Thursday. “I shouldn’t have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat. I would never do such a thing.”
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The New York Democrat accused the GOP of a “gross distortion” of his words by characterizing them as a threat.
“I’m from Brooklyn,” he said. “We speak in strong language.”
Schumer has faced criticism for his Wednesday remarks at a rally on the Supreme Court steps put on by a reproductive rights organization. He said at the rally: “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.”
His comments sparked a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts and a stream of criticism from pundits and GOP lawmakers who called his words a threat.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Schumer on the Senate floor earlier Thursday and called his comments part of a continued effort by Democrats to “bully” the independent judiciary.
Schumer, in his floor speech that followed McConnell’s, said he was responding to efforts to limit reproductive rights.
“Because Senate Republicans have confirmed nominees they believe will strip away women’s rights and fundamentally change this country,” he said. “They try to accomplish through the courts what they would never accomplish in the court of public opinion. … 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.”
