House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it “unfortunate” that Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer issued a warning to Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.
“I believe he also said on the floor today that his words were not appropriate, and I support him in that,” the California Democrat told reporters on Thursday. “It’s unfortunate because, as you see, I think the Republicans say, ‘It’s okay if the president does it, but it’s not okay if other people do it.’ It wasn’t right for anybody to do it, and Chuck recognized those words.”
Schumer said at a pro-abortion rally Wednesday that the Trump-appointed justices would “pay” for their upcoming votes on an abortion case.
“I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh: You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” the Senate minority leader said. “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
The comments were swiftly condemned by the New York Democrat’s colleagues, and he went on the Senate floor Thursday to clarify them.
“I shouldn’t have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat,” he said. “I would never do such a thing.”
Explaining that his threat was directed at the Senate GOP, which he said would suffer political consequences, and not at the justices, he added, “I’m from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language.”
President Trump has also been criticized for comments he made about two left-leaning Supreme Court justices. The president called on Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor to recuse themselves in any cases that involve him.
[Related: CNN’s John Avlon: Schumer ‘crossed a line’ with threatening Supreme Court comments]
