On Monday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose wife Callista is the United States Ambassador to the Vatican, mentioned the strong possibility that President Trump might nominate Appeals Court judge and devout Catholic Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy created by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the Supreme Court, then pointed out the hostility Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris has shown toward the Catholic faith.
Gingrich also correctly noted that if Democrats target Barrett because her faith would make her a staunch foe of abortion, then a candidate who was an Evangelical Christian or Orthodox Jew would also be persona non grata. He asked, “Are Democrats really prepared to alienate that many Americans?”
Gingrich tweeted:
If President Trump nominates Amy Coney Barrett, Notre Dame Law Professor, Appeals Court judge, mother of 7 (2 adopted from Haiti), clerk for Scalia, devout Catholic, it will pose a unique challenge for Kamala Harris — the most anti-Catholic bigot nominated in over a century.
Are Democrats prepared to say a devout Catholic is by definition unfit to serve on the Supreme Court? If no pro-life Justice is acceptable then no faithful Catholic, Evangelical or Orthodox Jew can be considered. Are Democrats really prepared to alienate that many Americans?
Are Democrats prepared to say a devout Catholic is by definition unfit to serve on the Supreme Court? If no pro-life Justice is acceptable then no faithful Catholic, Evangelical or Orthodox Jew can be considered. Are Democrats really prepared to alienate that many Americans?
— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) September 21, 2020
As Alexandra DeSanctis delineated in National Review, Harris has displayed her anti-Catholic sentiments in the recent past:
In late 2018, while evaluating the nomination of Brian Buescher to serve as a district judge in Nebraska, Harris posed a series of questions insinuating that his involvement in the Knights of Columbus — a charitable Catholic fraternal organization — disqualified him from serving on the bench. Here’s one of her written questions: “Since 1993, you have been a member of the Knights of Columbus, an all-male society comprised primarily of Catholic men. In 2016, Carl Anderson, leader of the Knights of Columbus, described abortion as ‘a legal regime that has resulted in more than 40 million deaths.’ Mr. Anderson went on to say that ‘abortion is the killing of the innocent on a massive scale.’ Were you aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when you joined the organization?”
Harris also asked Buescher whether he was “aware that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when [he] joined the organization” and whether he had “ever, in any way, assisted with or contributed to advocacy against women’s reproductive rights.”
The Wall Street Journal added, “For the record, the Knights take the same position as the Catholic Church. JFK was himself a Knight. If Mr. Buescher is unfit to serve as a federal judge because of his Knights membership, then so is every other Catholic American who doesn’t publicly repudiate the church’s moral teaching.”
At her confirmation hearing to be appointed to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on September 6, 2017, Barrett was grilled by California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein, who infamously pronounced, “Why is it that so many of us on this side have this very uncomfortable feeling that dogma and law are two different things, and I think whatever a religion is, it has its own dogma. The law is totally different … And I think in your case, professor, when you read your speeches, the conclusion one draws is that the dogma lives loudly within you. And that’s of concern.”
WATCH: Sen. Feinstein to appeals court nominee Amy Barrett, @NotreDame law prof/#Catholic mother of 7: "The dogma lives loudly within you." pic.twitter.com/mpDgNZGRsa
— Jason Calvi (@JasonCalvi) September 6, 2017