Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Thursday ripped into President Joe Biden for his attacks on the U.S. Supreme Court, accusing the president of acting beneath the “dignity” of the office and “blame shifting” for the floundering economy and chaotic situation at the border and in American cities.
Biden last week said the high court was on an “extreme and dangerous” path, adding on Thursday that the filibuster should be abolished so Congress can codify the principles of the overturned abortion case Roe v. Wade into law.
“Attacking a core American institution like the Supreme Court from the world stage is below the dignity of the President,” McConnell blasted on Twitter. “President Biden’s attacks on the Court are unmerited and dangerous.”
Attacking a core American institution like the Supreme Court from the world stage is below the dignity of the President. President Biden’s attacks on the Court are unmerited and dangerous. My full statement: https://t.co/FA2g4j7e8T
— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) June 30, 2022
The leading Republican went on to criticize Biden for claiming the court is somehow destabilizing democracy by kicking abortion restrictions back to the states.
“He’s upset that the Court said the people, through their elected representatives, will have a say on abortion policy,” McConnell said in a Thursday press release. “That does not destabilize democracy — it affirms it. By contrast, it is behavior like the President’s that undermines equal justice and the rule of law.”
The minority leader also took a shot at the president’s poor maintenance of the economy, accusing Biden of “blame shifting” as a distraction.
“The President launched this inappropriate attack when he was asked about whether or not we are on the right track as a country,” the statement said. “The President needs to take a look in the mirror.”
“The Supreme Court isn’t responsible for inflation, high gas prices, crime in the streets or chaos at the border. He is,” McConnell asserted. “No amount of blame shifting on the global stage will change that.”
Many Democrats have harshly criticized the Court and even lobbied for extensive changes to the Supreme Court as an institution since the overturning of Roe v. Wade on Friday.
“After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many called for impeachments, court packing, and ‘disciplining’ justices,” Constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley outlined at Fox News. “What is chilling, however, is that these calls have not come from extremist groups but political and media figures who are challenging the very ‘legitimacy’ of the Supreme Court.”
Turley outlined two extremely progressive Democrats working to allegedly delegitimize the court:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, has declared the Supreme Court illegitimate and has called to pack the Court for rending opinions against “widely held public opinion.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., even questioned the institution’s value: “How much does the current structure benefit us? And I don’t think it does.” She has now demanded the impeachment of Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch based on the entirely false claim that they lied under oath in their confirmation hearings. After the Dobbs decision, Ocasio-Cortez demanded “there must be consequences” for the Court.