In her latest tussle with White House press secretary Sean Spicer, NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker returned on Wednesday by catering to Senator Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), wondering what President Trump will do to get Schumer to support Neil Gorsuch since he’s hurt Schumer’s feelings in the past.
“Let me just ask you about the confirmation hearings. How does the President plan to get Chuck Schumer on board with his pick for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, when he has referred to him as a clown and has accused him of fake tears,” Welker fretted.
Spicer first highlighted the support for Gorsuch from across the legal and political spectrums and when Welker began shouting at Spicer, the White House press secretary blasted the Senate Minority Leader and gave Welker a piece of advice:
I would ask you that I think that the question needs to be asked of Chuck Schumer, why are you stalling all of these nominees? Why are you insisting on new requirements that you didn’t assume for Sotomayor or Kagan? I mean, there’s a point at which they need to get asked, why are they obstructing government at every step of the way? There's an element to which they need to be held accountable as well. They held certain standards in place for their nominees, both for the bench and for the cabinet and the question is, are they going to live up to the same standards that they imposed on Republicans when they had nominees in a Democratic White House?
The sparring continued as Welker again wondered how Trump will find his way out of this supposed predicament having said something negative about Schumer: “Does the President think by personally insulting Chuck Schumer, that's the way to get him to lead some members over to support Neil Gorsuch?”
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“Chuck Schumer is not innocent in this. There's a lot of comments that he made and a lot of accusations that he's thrown out there and a lot of politics that he's played. At some point, Chuck Schumer needs to be held accountable for his actions and his words,” responded Spicer.
Later in the briefing, an unidentified male reporter invoked Merrick Garland regarding the Court: “Senate Democrats have been described bitter over the manner in which Judge Merrick Garland was nominated for the Supreme Court. Do you feel — does the President feels that that bitterness is well-founded?”
Spicer humorously shot back that he’s not sure because “I’m not a Senate Democrat” and Republicans “felt as though that this was up to the voters to make a decision on and as I pointed out yesterday, so many voters made up their mind based on who they believe the candidates would appoint” and “now President Trump was clear about the type of people he was going to put forth.”
Here’s the relevant portions of the transcript from February 1's White House Daily Press Briefing:
White House Daily Press Briefing
February 1, 2017
1:59 p.m. Eastern
KRISTEN WELKER: Let me just ask you about the confirmation hearings. How does the President plan to get Chuck Schumer on board with his pick for the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, when he has referred to him as a clown and has accused him of fake tears?
SEAN SPICER: Well, I think those are two things. You look at the support that's already come out. I think there's eight senators already that have talked about the need to have a vote and his qualifications and not just the Senate, but I mean, you look at the widespread support that came out for Judge Gorsuch that came out last night. Across the spectrum, no matter your philosophical view of the court, I think his qualifications for the court, his academic background, make him an unbelievably highly qualified person and so, it's not just Chuck Schumer. I think the rest of the Senate, as he goes up there. But I think the interesting —
WELKER: Sean! Does he believe —
SPICER: — hold on, hold on. I understand that and I think Chuck Schumer has shown time and time again through this confirmation process with the cabinet that he's more interested in politics than actually moving the government along. And I think that's — that is troubling. I would ask you that I think that the question needs to be asked of Chuck Schumer, why are you stalling all of these nominees? Why are you insisting on new requirements that you didn’t assume for Sotomayor or Kagan? I mean, there’s a point at which they need to get asked, why are they obstructing government at every step of the way? There's an element to which they need to be held accountable as well. They held certain standards in place for their nominees, both for the bench and for the cabinet and the question is, are they going to live up to the same standards that they imposed on Republicans when they had nominees in a Democratic White House?
WELKER: Does the President think by personally insulting Chuck Schumer, that's the way to get him to lead some members over to support Neil Gorsuch?
[CROSSTALK]
SPICER: But again, Kristen, I think the goal is — the goal is to get — when Chuck — when — but again, I would go back. Chuck Schumer is not innocent in this. There's a lot of comments that he made and a lot of accusations that he's thrown out there and a lot of politics that he's played. At some point, Chuck Schumer needs to be held accountable for his actions and his words.
(....)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: Senate Democrats have been described bitter over the manner in which Judge Merrick Garland was nominated for the Supreme Court. Do you feel — does the President feels that that bitterness is well-founded?
SPICER: I don't know. I'm not a Senate Democrat. I think they have a right to feel the way they do. I think we've explained our position, both during last year, when this was going on, that we felt as though that this was up to the voters to make a decision on and as I pointed out yesterday, so many voters made up their mind based on who they believe the candidates would appoint, Mr. Trump, then-candidate Mr. Trump, now President Trump was clear about the type of people he was going to put forth, both first in a list of ten and then a list of 11 additional ones. So, I think the American people clearly knew where he was going to go. He followed through on that campaign promise and I think that when you look at the number of people who solely based their vote on that, never mind it was — then you expand that, it was pretty clear that was an important factor in the election. So, I understand it, but I also think that's — we had an election. It was a major issue in that election and I think that even when you look across the spectrum, Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, Judge Gorsuch has an unbelievable record and he's being praised for that record because of that.
