Liberal heads exploded on Wednesday when the news broke that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy announced is retirement after 30 years, effective July 31.
Kennedy, 81, was appointed to the Supreme Court by former President Ronald Reagan in 1987. He was sworn in a year later.
Chaos erupted on social media late Wednesday as news of Kennedy’s retirement circulated online. Ridiculous conspiracy theories quickly spread via social media. There was talk of Trump ending abortions and liberals being marched off to death camps.
By Wednesday night some Democrats and liberals were on suicide watch. Unhinged Comedy Central “comedian” Curtis Cook wished death upon Kennedy for simply retiring. “I wish Kennedy had been shot instead of the other ones,” he tweeted. As of Wednesday night, the tweet was still up.
President Trump immediately announced he would pick Kennedy’s successor “within weeks” from a list of 25 pre-vetted nominees.
Outraged Democrats promised an epic confirmation battle after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced, “We will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy’s successor this fall.”
The front-runner nominee is Chicago appeals court judge and mother-of-7 Amy Coney Barrett, 46. Trump added her name to the list just a few months ago.
If she is picked she will be Trump’s 2nd SCOTUS nominee since his election. He appointed Neil Gorsuch to the bench in 2017.
Kennedy, a moderate, was the key swing vote in many landmark cases, including Roe vs. Wade and gay marriage, and union dues for non-union members. He also voted to uphold Trump’s travel ban this week.
At a standing-room-only campaign rally in Fargo, North Dakota Wednesday night, an ecstatic President Trump thanked Kennedy for visiting him at the White House to personally deliver his retirement letter earlier in the day.
“I’m very honored he chose to do it during my term in office, because he felt confident in me to make the right choice and carry on his great legacy,” Trump said.
With 3 current Supreme Court justices in their 80s, Trump has 3 potential SCOTUS picks.
The president stressed to ND voters the importance of electing Republican Senate candidate Kevin Cramer to maintain a majority Republican Senate who will confirm his SCOTUS nominees.
“The travel ban ruling underscores just how critical it is to confirm judges who will support our great Constitution,” he said Wednesday.
On MSNBC’s “Hardball” on Wednesday, Senator Kamala Harris said Democrats were ready to “play hardball” to protect gay marriage and the Constitution from Trump’s New SCOTUS pick. She said her colleagues were prepared to do serious battle with Trump to delay the nomination until after the midterms. “We will not relent.”
Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images
