Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is “to the right,” the “far right.” CBS and The Washington Post on Wednesday conducted a collective freak out over the possibility that the new judge really is in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia. The two outlets collectively used the terms “right” or “far right” eight times.
On CBS This Morning, co-host Gayle King cited the Post and alerted viewers that Gorsuch “appears to be asserting himself as a force on the Supreme Court's right.” Repeating herself, she underlined, “Gorsuch fills the seat of the late Antonin Scalia and some say he's perhaps further to the right.”
In case anyone was unclear, King concluded, “He is also further to the right than almost all his colleagues on gun rights.” For those keeping score, that’s three descriptions of Gorsuch being on the “right” in just 24 seconds.
In a front page story for Wednesday’s Post, reporter Robert Barnes warned, “On Day 78 of his lifetime appointment, the Supreme Court’s newest justice, Neil M. Gorsuch, revealed himself Monday to be.... farther to the right than almost all of his colleagues on gun rights.”
The headline blared, “Gorsuch asserts himself early as force on Supreme Court’s right.” Barnes declared, “The bottom line, according to most accounts, is that Gorsuch is a Scalia 2.0, perhaps further to the right.”
Later, the journalist continued his labeling, this time describing the dreaded “far right.”
The views he expressed on the final day came in dissents or concurrences he wrote or joined with other justices. He has sided far more frequently with Justice Clarence Thomas on the court’s far right than with Roberts, closer to the center.
The Post used “right” or far right” five times. CBS and the newspaper have not repeatedly fretted about the“far left” Obama judges, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
On CNN, Tuesday, Chris Cuomo and Jeffrey Toobin fretted over the “very conservative” Gorsuch.
A transcript of the CBS segment is below:
CBS This Morning
6/28/17
7:32:03 to 7:32:27
24 secondsGAYLE KING: The Washington Post reports that Justice Neil Gorsuch appears to be asserting himself as a force on the Supreme Court’s right. Gorsuch fills the seat of the late Antonin Scalia and some say he's perhaps further to the right. Decisions announced on Monday reveal that he was skeptical about the reach of the Court’s decision two years ago granting same sex couples the right to marry. He is also further to the right than almost all his colleagues on gun rights.
