Sen. Marsha Blackburn said if there is one thing that has been clear during the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett, it is that only left-leaning women are welcome to be heard.
“If you don’t buy into this agenda of the Left if you’re female, then they act as if you are not a real woman,” Blackburn said during her questioning of Barrett on Tuesday. “And, I will tell you, quite frankly, they do not believe that all women deserve to have the opportunity to have a seat at the table. It is only certain women, and we have seen their liberal narrative play out today.”
Blackburn defended attacks on Barrett that have ranged from her experience as a mother of seven, a practicing Catholic, and someone who has held personal opposition to abortion in the past.
The Tennessee Republican said the liberal push for diversity is hypocritical in that it is only open to women who hold certain values.
“It is so discouraging to me to see groups on the Left say we want diversity, but let that diversity come from a woman who is on the political Right, and it’s like their heads explode,” Blackburn said. “They do not want that as a part of the conversation. What they prefer to have is that very narrow, liberal viewpoint.”
Blackburn said that women who lean to the Right across all occupations often face more criticism than women on the Left.
“It is not uncommon for women who practice their faith or who hold pro-life views to endure this, especially in a professional context,” Blackburn said. “And that is what we have seen the Left throw at you today. And I find it so interesting that they have tried to use this focus to evaluate your professionalism as a judge. Doing to you exactly what they say they despise. Interesting take.”
Barrett was nominated by President Trump to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died in September. Ginsburg was viewed as a champion of women’s rights and later became seen as a liberal icon. She was the second woman to sit on the Supreme Court after Sandra Day O’Connor, who was nominated by former President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
If nominated, Barrett will be the fifth woman in history to have a place on the high court and would sit alongside Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor.
Barrett will continue to face questioning this week by Republican and Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee. If she is approved by the committee, she will need a simple majority vote by the full Senate for a spot on the court.
