Amy Coney Barrett confirmation draws only sparse protests in sharp contrast to Kavanaugh
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When supporters of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation gathered outside the Supreme Court on Monday to pray that her ascension will lead to an overturning of Roe v. Wade, they met little resistance.
About 100 people prayed in tongues, a practice common among Pentecostal Christians, and held up signs in favor of Barrett. Sam Bethea, a Christian activist and vocal Trump supporter, led the crowd in a chant of “Jesus saves” and said that Trump’s nomination of Barrett was a providential act.
A contingent of four protesters dressed as handmaids from Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale soon surrounded the Barrett supporters and shouted “shame.” One of the handmaids held two coat hangers in the air, which she said was a reference to pre-Roe illegal abortion procedures. Others held signs depicting the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg depicted as a handmaid.
Members of the Palm Collective, a D.C.-based group of racial justice activists, joined the handmaids in surrounding the Barrett supporters, at points shouting at them and playing loud music, which drowned out their prayers. Bethea argued at length with a member of the group after she told him that it didn’t “mean a goddamn thing” that “Jesus saves.” Bethea continued to insist that the crowd, as well as Jesus, loved everyone, including the protesters.
The incident was typical of the clashes between Barrett supporters and protesters since President Trump nominated her to the Supreme Court in September. In a similar incident last week, a lone Barrett protester loudly played an air horn outside the Supreme Court while at a press conference across the street, Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino praised Barrett’s record. The protester left after provoking no reaction.
Earlier that day, when the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the vote on Barrett to the full Senate, fewer than a dozen handmaids showed up outside Senate offices to protest committee Chairman Lindsey Graham’s decision. The demonstration, which was only widely publicized hours after it had happened, stood in stark contrast to the pressure that Trump’s last nominee, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, faced even after the Senate confirmed him to the court.
Commenting on the disparity between the Barrett and Kavanaugh confirmation battles, Severino said that, like Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, she thought the Barrett confirmation was the “best set of hearings” the Senate conducted in terms of civility.
Barrett, whose confirmation is supported by a majority of voters, faced harsh criticism when Trump first nominated her that gradually tapered as it became clear that the Senate would confirm her. Attacks on the justice’s faith, particularly for her membership in the ecumenical group People of Praise, which many people mistakenly claimed inspired The Handmaid’s Tale, were floated through various media outlets in the lead-up to Trump’s nomination. Critics also focused on her alleged personal opposition to abortion and gay marriage.
Those attacks waned once Barrett actually reached the Senate, where Democrats instead opted to accuse her of wanting to overturn Obamacare. That strategy extended beyond the Senate, too, with former Vice President Joe Biden condemning attacks on Barrett’s faith while simultaneously claiming she said that she “wants to get rid” of Obamacare.
Protesters in mid-October held a Women’s March in Washington to oppose Barrett’s confirmation. Unlike the Women’s Marches of years past, though, which were directed at Trump, this one was not widely publicized and drew only an estimated 100,000 people nationwide, in comparison to the million that have taken to the streets against Trump.
The relative dearth of demonstrations also stood in stark contrast to the explosion of people who swarmed Capitol Hill for weeks after Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in high school.
Tags: News, Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh, Abortion, Donald Trump, 2020 Elections
Original Author: Nicholas Rowan
Original Location: Amy Coney Barrett confirmation draws only sparse protests in sharp contrast to Kavanaugh