Bill Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time," attacked Amy Coney Barrett's faith on his show Friday, calling the reported next Supreme Court justice "a f***ing nut."
Jonathan Turley, a self-described liberal who teaches at George Washington School of Law, blasted Maher in response.
What did Maher say?
Refusing to even pronounce Barrett's name correctly — saying "Comey" instead of "Coney" — Maher brutally mocked the appellate justice's Christian faith.
"Apparently the pick is going to be this Omy... Amy Comey [sic] — I am sure we will be saying this name a lot because she's a f***ing nut," Maher began. "Religion I was right about that one, too."
"Amy Comey [sic] Barrett, Catholic, really Catholic, I mean really, really, really, Catholic, like speaking in tongues, like she doesn't believe in condoms, which she has in common with Trump, because he doesn't either. I remember that from Stormy Daniels," Maher added.
The crowd applauded Maher's remarks.
How did Turley respond?
Writing on Twitter Saturday, Turley said that Maher's comments demonstrated that "prejudice lives loudly" in Maher.
Last night, Bill Maher came unglued with a attack on Judge Barrett, objecting that she is "really, really Catholic -- like speaking in tongues." The raving assault (which even bizarrely tied in Stormy Daniels) shows the triumph of rage over reason.
[W]hen Ginsburg (a devout Jew) was nominated Feinstein did not object that "The dogma lives loudly in you" and commentators like Maher did not portray her as a barking religious fanatic or question whether she approves of condoms.
Imagine if a conservative commentator responded to President Obama's nomination of Kagan or Sotomayor by referring to sex with a stripper or referring to Kagan a "really, really Jewish." To paraphrase Sen. Feinstein, "[Prejudice] lives loudly in you.
What's the background?
As Barrett's nomination becomes more likely — it is widely expected that Trump will officially nominate her on Saturday — the left is making its attacks on Barrett more personal.
Not only are they mocking her faith, but now they are going after Barrett's family.
Democratic operative Dana Houle suggested in now-deleted tweets that two of Barrett's seven children were illegally adopted.
"Does the press even investigate details of Barrett's adoptions from Haiti? Some adoptions from Haiti were legit. Many were sketchy as hell. And if press learned they were unethical & maybe illegal adoptions, would they report it? Or not bc it involves her children," Houle said.
Houle later added, "I shouldn't have tweeted this...Not because it is smearing someone as engaging in child sex trafficking, but because I didn't realize all the rubes out there would take offense to it."
Meanwhile, John Lee Brougher, who identifies as a supporter of Democrats and left-wing groups, tweeted, "As an adoptee, I need to know more about the circumstances of how Amy Coney Barrett came to adopt her children, and the treatment of them since. Transracial adoption is fraught with trauma and potential for harm, and everything I see here is deeply concerning."
Brougher has since made his Twitter account private.
Fortunately, some Democrats are defending Barrett from the onslaught of personal attacks.
During an interview on Fox News, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), one of the most moderate Democrats in Congress, called the personal attacks on Barrett "awful."
"I'm Catholic, OK. And religion should not enter into it. It sure doesn't with me," Manchin said. "The freedom of religion is one of the basic rights we all have as American citizens."
No comments:
Post a Comment