‘We Should Evaluate This President’s Nominee Fairly, Based On Their Qualifications’
‘Decade after decade. Nominee after nominee. The far left’s script hardly changes at all. Anyone and everyone a Republican president nominates to the Supreme Court is some kind of threat to the Republic, according to the hysterical press releases that inevitably follow. No matter their qualifications… No matter their record… No matter their reputation… It’s the same hyperbole. The same accusations. The same old story.’
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding the need to confirm the president’s Supreme Court nominee who is scheduled to be announced later tonight:
“‘Sexist.’
“‘A disaster for women.’
“‘Totally unacceptable.’
“These are just a few of the ad hominem attacks that far-left special interest groups hurled at a federal circuit court judge whom a Republican president nominated to the Supreme Court. The name of that federal judge? Anthony Kennedy. After President Reagan nominated then-Judge Kennedy to the Court in 1987, these far-left special interest groups impugned his character. They cooked up apocalyptic warnings about all the terrible things that would happen to Americans if he were confirmed to the Court.
“Of course, the American people didn’t buy it. And a majority of senators saw through the hyperbole and hysteria and confirmed that qualified nominee. And, believe it or not, the sky did not fall. But decades later, our Democratic colleagues still haven’t tired of crying wolf whenever a Republican president nominates anyone to the Supreme Court.
“We’ve seen the same movie time after time – after time. Less than three years after Justice Kennedy’s confirmation, President Bush nominated David Souter to the Supreme Court. Guess what left-wing pressure groups said about David Souter right after President Bush selected him? That’s right. The very same things you’re hearing today. The same things you’ve heard from these same corners about every Supreme Court nominee named by a Republican president.
“One organization proclaimed that Justice Souter might, quote, ‘undo the advances made by women, minorities, dissenters and other disadvantaged groups.’ That was about Justice Souter. And back in 1975, they assailed the nomination of John Paul Stevens. They said he lacked impartiality and opposed women’s rights. That was said about John Paul Stevens. So these far-left groups have been at these same scare tactics for more than forty years.
“The consistency is really quite amazing. Decade after decade. Nominee after nominee. The far left’s script hardly changes at all. Anyone and everyone a Republican president nominates to the Supreme Court is some kind of threat to the Republic, according to the hysterical press releases that inevitably follow. No matter their qualifications… No matter their record… No matter their reputation… It’s the same hyperbole. The same accusations. The same old story.
“Tonight, President Trump will announce his nominee to fill the current Supreme Court vacancy. We don’t know who he will name – but we already know exactly what unfair attacks the nominee will face. They won’t be new, and they won’t be warranted. We can expect to hear how they’ll destroy equal rights, or demolish American healthcare, or ruin our country in some other fictional way.
“Justice Kennedy’s resignation letter had barely arrived in the president’s hands before several of our Democratic colleagues began declaring their blanket opposition to anyone at all – anyone – that the president might name. One Democratic senator stated that she would resist any attempt to confirm any nominee this year – quote, ‘It doesn’t matter who he is putting forward.’ Doesn’t matter who. Earlier today, another Democratic senator issued a press release declaring preemptively that he plans to oppose whomever the president nominates tonight, no matter who they are. Another of our Democratic colleagues offered this assessment: ‘We are looking at a destruction of the Constitution of the United States as far as I can tell.’
“It’s hard to keep a straight face when you hear stuff like that. There’s not even a nominee yet. Justice Kennedy just announced his retirement, and they’re talking about the ‘destruction of the Constitution’? Please. Give the American people some credit. The far-left rhetoric comes out every single time. But the apocalypse never comes. Americans see beyond the far-left fear mongering they’ve tried over and over again for forty years. Senators should do the same.
“We should evaluate this president’s nominee fairly, based on their qualifications. And we should treat this process with the respect and the dignity that it deserves. The Judiciary Committee, under the able leadership of Senator Grassley, will hold hearings. And then the nomination will come to the full Senate for our consideration. One more round of 40-year-old scare tactics will not stop us from doing the right thing.”
Related Issues: Judicial Nominations, Nominations, Supreme Court
Next Previous
