Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wrapped himself in self-righteousness Thursday after he was admonished on the floor of the U.S. Senate for threatening Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
The New York senator claimed he was merely passionate about abortion. He claimed also that he is from Brooklyn, where people naturally talk tough. As expected, Schumer also denied that he had threatened the conservative justices, even though there’s really no other interpretation for what he said.
Who are you going to believe, him or your lying eyes?
“Now, I should not have used the words I used yesterday,” Schumer said Thursday following an admonishment from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “They did not come out the way I intended to. My point was that there would be political consequences — political consequences! — for President Trump and Senate Republicans if the Supreme Court with the newly confirmed justices stripped away a woman’s right to choose.”
But this doesn’t make sense at all. This is what we call “gaslighting.” Schumer threatened Gorsuch and Kavanaugh by name outside the Supreme Court — he was not threatening elected officials, but appointed judges, who never face political consequences. To claim now that he was only talking about President Trump, Senate Republicans, and political consequences is a blatant and brazen act of dishonesty.
For reference, here is exactly what Schumer said Wednesday during an appearance at a pro-abortion 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.”
This does not square at all with what Schumer is saying now.
“Of course, I did not intend to suggest anything other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court,” Schumer said Thursday, “and it is a gross distortion to imply otherwise.”
He added: “I’m from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language. I should not have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat. I never, never would do such a thing, and Leader McConnell knows that. And Republicans who are busy manufacturing outrage over these comments know that, too.”
Few in the history of the U.S. Senate have deserved a censure as badly as Schumer deserves one for his attack on Gorsuch and Kavanaugh and his subsequent lies in denial of what he said. Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri is right to propose a censure to bring the New York lawmaker back in line.
