In March 2020, crusty Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat, stood on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court Building at a pro-abortion rally and threatened the lives of two Supreme Court justices if they dared change abortion law in the U.S.
“You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price,” Schumer thundered before the pro-abortion crowd, in what appeared in retrospect to be an insurrection-y comment against part of the government. But it got worse.
Schumer name-checked two justices who had recently been appointed to the bench by Donald Trump.
“I want to tell you, Gorsuch! I want to tell you, Kavanaugh!” Schumer screeched. Upping the ante of his rhetoric before the angry crowd—on the steps of the Supreme Court Building—he blustered, “You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
States were challenging Roe v. Wade, the existing federal abortion law, and the cases were making their way to the Supreme Court. Schumer issued the threat as a way to extort his and his supporters’ preordained decision. And everyone got the message. Loudly. Clearly. Would Schumer get away with this obvious threat over the Supreme Court giving America the “wrong” answer on abortion?
Hellbound and Down 