The honeymoon may be over between social conservatives and the newest members of the United States Supreme Court appointed by former President Donald Trump.
Axios points out an anecdote that puts the issue on display: former Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the annual Family Leadership Summit, a top social conservative organization in the all important state of Iowa.
Pence touted the track record of appointing conservative judges by the Trump administration at every level.
“We appointed more than 300 conservatives to our federal courts at every level, including Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and how about Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Isn’t she something?”
What he got from the audience was crickets.
Family Leadership Summit draws potential 2024 contenders to event where 'wokeness' is scorned https://t.co/bq0HOcCJ2H via @DMRegister #FLS21 #iapolitics
— Lyle Muller (@LyleMuller) July 17, 2021
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Social Conservatives Not Impressed
With the appointment of Justice Amy Coney Barrett following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last fall, conservatives were elated that the nation’s highest court would be a right-leaning one – or so they thought.
Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The Family Leader, in an interview with Fox News said he wasn’t surprised by the “golf clap” that Vice President Pence received at the mention of the Supreme Court Justices.
He said, “I think they’ve been less than satisfied with Kavanaugh and even Amy Coney Barrett.” He added,
“What I kind of believe you saw there was there’s been a lot of over-promising about if we get the Supreme Court, if we get the justices, watch out, they will rule with the Constitution, the original intent.”
SCOTUS Justices Alito & Thomas are already publicly warning conservatives that Barrett & Kavanaugh "lack fortitude" and are "unwilling to bear the criticism" that will come with making conservative decisions.
— Emerald Robinson ✝️ (@EmeraldRobinson) July 16, 2021
Some Questionable Decisions
Among some of the decisions from the recently concluded session that have disappointed conservatives, the court failed to put a final nail in the coffin of ObamaCare, something that has been the target of the GOP for some time.
The court also dipped its foot into transgender rights, ruling in favor of a transgender student who wanted to choose their bathroom.
In what might have been the ultimate sting to conservatives, in December the court threw out a suit brought by the state of Texas to throw out election results in four battleground states where election laws were changed by Governors or bureaucrats instead of the state legislatures, as prescribed in the Constitution.
While not commenting on the possibility of any election fraud or the legitimacy of the election, the court merely said that Texas did not have standing to bring the case.
President Trump himself has also voiced his displeasure. During an interview with Real America’s Voice Network, he said, “I am very disappointed. I fought very hard for them, but I was very disappointed with a number of their rulings.”
In fairness, the court did hit some high marks. In a free speech case, the court ruled that a school could not reprimand a cheerleader for using profanity off campus. It also upheld the practice in Arizona of disqualifying ballots cast in the wrong precinct, even those cast by accident.
But the court seemed to punt yet another case involving religious rights and same-sex couples. Barronelle Stutzman is a Christian florist in Washington state. She has been fighting for her religious rights for a decade over refusing to provide flowers for the wedding of a same-sex couple on grounds that it violated her religious beliefs.
After the Washington Supreme Court ruled against her twice, the Supreme Court refused to hear her case and protect her rights.
How often conservative justices joined liberals this Supreme Court term
Kavanaugh 85%
Barrett 70%
Roberts 69%
Gorsuch 62%
Thomas 46%
Alito 23%-via NYTimes
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) July 13, 2021
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Liberals Trying To Catch Up
In an effort to ensure that the court is not lost for a generation to conservatives, liberals and progressives have put pressure on Justice Stephen Breyer to step down. Upon the death of Ginsburg, Breyer became the ranking liberal Justice on the court.
Breyer, a Clinton appointee, has been a member of the court for 27 years and will turn 83 in August. There are even Democrat members of Congress who have called on Breyer to step down so that President Joe Biden could appoint a younger, possibly more liberal judge to the court.
To the dismay of the left however, Breyer says he has no plans to step down.
NEW: President Trump tells @DBrodyreports that he’s “very disappointed” with Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh on SCOTUS Obamacare ruling. “I fought very hard for them.”
Watch the rest of the interview on #TheWaterCooler today on #RealAmVoice @Justthenews pic.twitter.com/WaJJl9g5cK
— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) June 21, 2021
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