Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government Sen. Mike Lee said that recent criticism for Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination by Sen. Ed Markey may be the “worst” he has seen and is calling on him to issue a retraction.
Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts known for his liberal bona fides, issued a scathing critique on Monday of Barrett’s judicial philosophy prior to her confirmation that night. He specifically took aim at Barrett’s embrace of constitutional originalism, which is the view that the Constitution should be interpreted as it was written.
“Originalism is racist. Originalism is sexist. Originalism is homophobic. Originalism is just a fancy word for discrimination,” Markey said in a Monday tweet.
Originalism is racist. Originalism is sexist. Originalism is homophobic. Originalism is just a fancy word for discrimination.
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) October 26, 2020
Lee, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, hit back at his colleague Tuesday morning on Fox News. He demanded that Markey retract the statement.
“Of all the irresponsible and inflammatory statements I’ve heard over the last few weeks, and I’ve heard some doozies, this might well be the worst,” Lee said.
“If you think about what he is really saying there, Sen. Markey has essentially said that our Constitution is racist. And [that] an effort to understand it, understand its words at the time they were written, is itself racist and bigoted,” the Utah Republican continued. “I can’t think of a statement that has a greater tendency to undermine the foundation of our constitutional republic.”
“I hope, expect, and demand that Sen. Markey retract his statement. It is irresponsible; he can’t defend that,” he added.
Barrett, an appeals court judge, was confirmed by the Senate on Monday evening in a 52-48 vote, with Sen. Susan Collins of Maine being the lone member of the GOP to vote against her.
Later that night, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas delivered Barrett’s constitutional oath at a ceremonial event attended by President Trump at the White House. On Tuesday, she was officially sworn in as the newest associate justice and recited the judicial oath in a private ceremony with Chief Justice John Roberts.
