MRC Latino Director Jorge Bonilla was the first on the scene Wednesday when he shared a video of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) threatening a “price” would be paid by conservative Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, if they decided to uphold a pro-life law. The video drew outrage from many and a powerful rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts. But NBC Nightly News reported not a word of the incident and instead showcased cheerleading dads.
In contrast, when Roberts had rebuked President Trump for a deriding comment directed at a federal judge, NBC Nightly News had spent over two minutes (2:10) over two days talking about it. Meanwhile, both ABC’s World News Tonight and CBS Evening News covered the back and forth between Roberts and Schumer. Their combined airtime for the story was two minutes and 14 seconds.
Unfortunately, they downplayed the threat to just a “warning.” “Outside the court, Senate majority leader-- minority leader, I should point out, Chuck Schumer with a heated warning,” ABC anchor David Muir suggested before playing this soundbite of the Senator:
SCHUMER: I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you, if you go forward with these awful decisions.
ABC senior national correspondent Terry Moran then marveled at the Chief Justice’s “sharp and extraordinary rebuke to Senator Schumer.” In the statement, Roberts called what Schumer said “threatening,” “dangerous,” and “inappropriate” for someone of his stature in government to say. “All members of the court will continue to do their job without fear or favor from what quarter,” he wrote.
“Now, Senator Schumer's office fired back, claiming that the Senator was talking about the political price that Senate Republicans would face,” Moran added. But he failed to point out how that defense made no sense since the soundbite clearly showed Schumer calling the Justices out, by name, before threatening them.
Over on the CBS Evening News, legal correspondent Jan Crawford also downplayed what Schumer told the Justices to just a “warning”:
CRAWFORD: But in 2018, Justice Brett Kavanaugh replaced Kennedy, joining on the court President Trump's other nominee, Neil Gorsuch. On the steps of the court, today Senator Chuck Schumer leveled a warning to them both.
SCHUMER: You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price!
“That prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts who called the comments, ‘[t]hreatening,’ ‘inappropriate,’ and ‘dangerous,’” she noted.
ABC and CBS also recalled Roberts’ rebuke of Trump.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight
March 4, 2020
6:43:29 p.m. Eastern [1 minute 26 seconds]DAVID MUIR: We're going to turn now to the fireworks at the Supreme Court today. The justices today hearing a key case on abortion rights. It's a big test for President Trump's picks, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. Outside the court, Senate majority leader-- minority leader, I should point out, Chuck Schumer with a heated warning.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you, if you go forward with these awful decisions.
MUIR: So, let's bring in our senior national correspondent Terry Moran tonight. And Terry, because the Chief Justice John Roberts delivering a rare rebuke late today to Senator Schumer.
TERRY MORAN: That's right, David. A sharp and extraordinary rebuke to Senator Schumer. In this case, the Justice saying just a little while ago, “threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous. All members of the court will continue to do their job without fear or favor from what quarter.”
Now, Senator Schumer's office fired back, claiming that the Senator was talking about the political price that Senate Republicans would face. Whatever the case, Chief Justice Roberts has previously rebuked President Trump when he went after a federal judge of Mexican descent. The Chief Justice trying to protect the court in these difficult times and that is tough. David?
MUIR: Terry Moran, live at the White House. Terry, thank you.
CBS Evening News
March 4, 2020
6:44:45 p.m. Eastern [48 seconds](…)
NORAH O’DONNELL: And with tensions so high today, Jan Crawford reports on what made Chief Justice John Roberts issued a rare rebuke to the Senate's top Democrat.
(…)
JAN CRAWFORD: But in 2018, Justice Brett Kavanaugh replaced Kennedy, joining on the court President Trump's other nominee, Neil Gorsuch. On the steps of the court, today Senator Chuck Schumer leveled a warning to them both.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price!
CRAWFORD: That prompted a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts who called the comments, "Threatening,” “inappropriate,” and “dangerous."
[Cuts back to live]
Now, this is not the chief of staff's first rebuke. After President Trump complained about a so-called, quote, "Obama judge" who had ruled against him. Roberts answered back then with a strong defense of an independent judiciary.
