Ever since the vile left invented the idea of “Borking” a judicial nominee in the late 1980s, it has been the precedent that nominees would not comment on how they would rule on any given topic. It was Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s staunch application of the precedent that gave it the name “the Ginsburg Rule.” Even recent judicial nominee has adhered to this precedent, yet according to CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell, it was Judge Amy Coney Barrett “dodging questions” from Democrats Tuesday.
From the moment she started speaking, O’Donnell was trying to gaslight her viewers. In the opening tease, the anchor huffed about how Barrett “gave few specifics” on “how she'd rule on abortion, guns, and health care.”
Refusing to acknowledge the precedent that even liberal Justices Kagan and Sotomayor followed, O’Donnell insisted Judge Barrett was “dodging questions”:
President Trump's pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, has spent the day defending her judicial philosophy, and dodging questions about how she'd rule on future cases, including next month's challenge to ObamaCare. Barrett also refused to say how she would rule on abortion, insisting she has not made deals with the President or the White House.
And while she would not commit to recusing herself from any election-related cases, Barrett said she would not be used as a pawn by the President to decide the election in his favor.
Chief congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes agreed with O’Donnell and began her report by echoing Democrats who “accuse her of being evasive about some of her positions.” At the same time, the on-screen headline read: "Barrett refuses to answer questions on abortion, health care law."
After noting that Barrett testified that she would be her own justice and not just a carbon copy of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Cordes suggested: “On many issues, though, she declined to share her views.” She then ran this series of edited soundbites of the Judge: “It's not something really that's appropriate for me to comment on. [Transition] I've never expressed a view on it. [Transition] I can't answer questions like that.”
And when she finally got around to acknowledging the existence of the “Ginsburg Rule,” Cordes framed it as something Barrett “said she was just following.” “But Ginsburg did state her support for abortion rights back then, while Barrett refused today to discuss her personal opposition to Roe v. Wade,” she went on to chide.
That was followed up with a soundbite of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) lashing out at Judge Barrett: “On something that is really a major cause with major effect on over half of the population of this country who are women, it's distressing not to get a straight answer.”
Cordes then touted how “[a]s expected, Democrats pressed her on ObamaCare.” She rebuked Barrett’s testimony that she was “not hostile to the ACA” by declaring: “President Trump has explicitly said he is choosing justices who will overturn the law.” And she also complained about how Barrett “would not say if she agreed with the court's 2015 decision guaranteeing the right to same-sex marriage.”
CBS’s ignorance or abdication of precedent was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Google and Fidelity. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they’re funding. CBS Evening News has also asked people to “text Norah” at this number: (202) 217-1107.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
October 13, 2020
6:32:19 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: But we're going to begin with that marathon confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill that is now stretching into the night. President Trump's pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, has spent the day defending her judicial philosophy, and dodging questions about how she'd rule on future cases, including next month's challenge to ObamaCare. Barrett also refused to say how she would rule on abortion, insisting she has not made deals with the President or the White House.
And while she would not commit to recusing herself from any election-related cases, Barrett said she would not be used as a pawn by the President to decide the election in his favor.
With her confirmation all but certain in the Republican-controlled Senate, tonight, Democrats are focused less on stopping her appointment and more on making it a key campaign issue just three weeks before election day.
There's a lot of new reporting to get to tonight. Our team of correspondents is standing by to cover it all. CBS' Nancy Cordes is going to lead off our coverage tonight from Capitol Hill. Good evening, Nancy.
NANCY CORDES: Norah, President Trump's Supreme Court nominee has been on the hot seat for more than eight hours now. And both sides are praising her knowledge and her eloquence, even as Democrats accuse her of being evasive about some of her positions.
[Cuts to video]
Senators scanned Barrett's background today for clues about how she would rule.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): People say that you're a female Scalia. What would you say?
CORDES: Barrett clerked for the conservative giant in 1998.
JUDGE AMY CONEY BARRETT: Justice Scalia was obviously a mentor. But I want to be careful to say that if I'm confirmed you would not be getting Justice Scalia. You would be getting Justice Barrett.
CORDES: On many issues, though, she declined to share her views.
BARRETT: It's not something really that's appropriate for me to comment on. [Transition] I've never expressed a view on it. [Transition] I can't answer questions like that.
CORDES: The 48-year-old mother of seven said she was just following an example set by the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
RUTH BADER GINSBURG: A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecast, no hints.
CORDES: But Ginsburg did state her support for abortion rights back then, while Barrett refused today to discuss her personal opposition to Roe v. Wade.
BARRETT: Whether I say I love it or I hate it, it signals to litigants that I might tilt one way or another in a pending case.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): On something that is really a major cause with major effect on over half of the population of this country who are women, it's distressing not to get a straight answer.
GRAHAM: Can you set aside whatever Catholic beliefs you have regarding any issue before you?
BARRETT: I can. I have done that in my time on the Seventh Circuit.
CORDES: As expected, Democrats pressed her on Obamacare.
BARRETT: I'm not hostile to the ACA.
CORDES: President Trump has explicitly said he is choosing justices who will overturn the law.
BARRETT: I have had no conversation with the President or any of his staff on how I might rule in that case.
CORDES: She would not say if she agreed with the court's 2015 decision guaranteeing the right to same-sex marriage.
BARRETT: I do want to be clear that I have never discriminated on the basis of sexual preference and would not ever discriminate on the basis of sexual preference.
[Cuts back to live]
CORDES: That term "sexual preference" was slammed by Democrats as outdated and offensive because it implies that sexual orientation is a choice. A short time ago, Judge Barrett apologized, saying she didn't mean to offend anyone. Norah.
O’DONNELL: All right, Nancy Cordes, thank you.
