Retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy has a reputation as a moderate conservative… but liberals are already claiming that replacing him with a more consistent conservative would be the end of the world.
Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California went on MSNBC, where she claimed that Trump putting another conservative on the bench would be the “destruction of the Constitution of the United States.”
She also tweeted, “The President’s list of potential SCOTUS nominees are complete non-starters. They are conservative ideologues, not mainstream jurists. We cannot and will not accept them to serve on the highest court in the land.”
Other Democrats called for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to delay the confirmation hearings until after the 2018 election—as he did in 2016, when Justice Antonin Scalia suddenly passed away.
“Mitch McConnell should follow the Mitch McConnell rule. Let the American people have a say when women’s health and equal rights are on the line,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)
“Millions of people are just months away from determining the senators who should vote to confirm or reject the president’s nominee, and their voices deserve to be heard now, as Leader McConnell thought they should deserve to be heard then,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY.)
Sen. Richard Bluementhal (D-Conn.) was initially the lone voice of reason among the left, calling for Trump to appoint a moderate in the mold of Kennedy and for the Senate to confirm the next Justice before the election.
But after backlash, he quickly fell into line, tweeting: The American people shld have a voice. A confirmation vote shld take place after a new Congress is seated. My Republican colleagues shld follow their own precedent.
In part because Democrats started killing the filibuster in 2013, the minority party is virtually powerless to stop Supreme Court nominations. It’s highly likely that Trump and McConnell will get their pick confirmed before the 2018 election, regardless of what Democrats think.
Just check out some of these crazy Tweets!
Is Kennedy’s the first retirement from a job that is also an explicit act of Nazism?
— Daniel Foster (@DanFosterType) June 28, 2018
I remember sobbing in my husband’s arms. He said it would be OK, and I screamed, “BUT THE SUPREME COURT!!”
And I started crying again today when I heard about Kennedy’s retirement.
— Andrea Z Drennan (@MsZeiter) June 27, 2018
Devasted at the news of SCOTUS Justice Kennedy's retirement. I am crying almost as much as election night 2016. Fucking dammit.😡
— StephSteen (@StephB_BTR) June 27, 2018
These people – real people, that vote, and that live in our communities – are completely UNHINGED!