It was only a matter of time before the attacks on Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s character and faith ramped up in earnest. You knew this was coming.
Barrett, who is in the running to replace outgoing Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, is a devout Roman Catholic. As such, she adheres closely to church doctrine, including its belief that abortion is a moral evil. Barrett, who serves as a member of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, is also a member of a small, extremely charismatic group called the People of Praise.
In short, she’s the sort of person who pro-abortion advocates and other left-leaning activists would do and say anything to block from taking a Supreme Court seat.
MSNBC analyst Zerlina Maxwell, for example, parroted bogus talking points this week accusing Barrett of once entertaining a “hate group.”
“Amy Barnett [sic] … she is very Catholic. She had a famous moment with former Sen. Al Franken during her hearings about how she spoke, essentially, to a hate group without really understanding the full context there,” the cable news analyst said.
This bit about a “hate group” is a based on a lie.
Franken, who resigned last year after eight women accused him of sexual misconduct, spoke in reference to an address Barrett gave to the Alliance Defending Freedom. The former senator claimed the group “has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of transgendered people abroad,” and that, “This is a group that calls for the sterilization of transgender people abroad.”
This is all a rather complicated lie, which can be traced directly back to the notoriously dishonest Southern Poverty Law Center.
Then there’s Richard Painter, a washed up former White House official who has found new life as cable news’ favorite “former Bush administration official” and “ethics lawyer.”
“A religious group in which members take an oath of loyalty to each other and are supervised by a male ‘head’ or female ‘handmaiden,’” he said this week in reference to a New York Times article detailing Barrett’s affiliation to the People of Praise. “That looks like a cult. Now she wants a seat on SCOTUS for the sole purpose of overturning Roe v. Wade. The answer is NO.”
He added elsewhere, “Barrett … is downright dangerous unless we want to live in a theocracy. How low will the anti-abortion movement go?”
All of this, of course, comes after Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., said in 2017 during Barret’s confirmation hearing for the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, “When you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you.”
“And that’s of concern when you come to big issues that large numbers of people have fought for, for years in this country,” the senator added, following closely to the talking points published by the left-leaning Alliance for Justice.
This line — that Barrett’s faith and religious affiliations disqualifies her from the Supreme Court — is not going away any time soon. Should she get the nod from Trump, expect this to be the official line again her.
