Schumer Telling Brett Kavanaugh He'll 'Pay the Price' for Roe Resurfaces
newsweek.com/chuck-schumer-brett-kavanaugh-roe-v-wade-pay-price-comment-1713964
June 8, 2022
By Katherine Fung On 6/8/22 at 1:14 PM EDT
News Brett Kavanaugh Chuck Schumer Roe v Wade Abortion
A video of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer telling Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh that he would "pay the price" for rolling back abortion rights has resurfaced amid an arrest outside the justice's home in Maryland.
Back in March 2020, Schumer made a speech outside the Supreme Court as justices heard a case about a Louisiana abortion law, warning Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch—former President Donald Trump's other appointee at the time—that they could face dire consequences for their "awful decisions."
"I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price," Schumer, who was then minority leader, said at the time. "You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."
On Wednesday, GOP Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene, Vicky Hartzler and Mike Johnson quoted the Democratic leader after it was reported that an armed man was detained near Kavanaugh's home overnight.
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Schumer had previously retracted his comments, saying from the Senate floor that he "should not have used the words [he] used" the day before.
"They didn't come out the way I intended to," the senator said in 2020. "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."
"Of course, I didn't intend to suggest anything other than political and public opinion consequences for the Supreme Court, and it is a gross distortion to imply otherwise," he added.
In a statement sent to Newsweek on Wednesday, Schumer's team reiterated that the senator has "been clear that he supports peaceful protests and is thankful law enforcement arrested this person today."
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