Rep. Steve Scalise, whose name has been floated as a possible alternative to Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, is raising money from right-wing activists based on a phony threat that Trump-nominated Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is at risk of being replaced “with a Liberal activist appointed by Joe Biden!”
An “urgent” fundraising email sent Tuesday evening warned that “the Liberal Mob is rushing to collect hundreds of thousands of signatures to remove our beloved Conservative Supreme Court justice and REPLACE her with a Liberal activist appointed by Joe Biden!” The Scalise email goes on to say, “But it gets even worse: Big Democrat names are now calling her nomination ‘illegitimate’ laying the groundwork for EXPELLING her!”
In reality, there is absolutely no threat that Amy Coney Barrett will be “expelled,” especially with Republicans controlling the House of Representatives. Only one Supreme Court justice has ever been impeached by the House—in 1804—and in that case the Senate failed to convict and remove the justice, which would require a two-thirds vote by the Senate.
The supposedly “urgent” threat that Team Scalise is hyping to get right-wing activists to send him money is a petition listed on change.org that has yet to reach 15,000 signatures even though it was posted two years ago. But according to Scalise, “This story is developing in real time”:
Democrats were FURIOUS when Republicans appointed Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. They knew she would stand up for our Pro-Life values, 2nd Amendment Rights, and religious freedoms.
Now, Democrats are trying any desperate attempt to force Amy Coney Barrett off the court and replace her with a Far-Left Radical!
“If Democrats take control of the Supreme Court, they’ll destroy our Conservative legacy in the blink of an eye,” Scalise wrote, urging activists to sign a pro-Barrett petition “before the Radical Left impeaches her.”
The email exhorts readers to send money to help Scalise “save” Barrett; fine print explains that the money to supposedly save Barrett from impeachment would actually go to Scalise for Congress, with funds over the legal limit being distributed to Scalise’s Eye of the Tiger PAC, which gave over $2 million to Republican candidates in the 2022 election cycle. “The single most important thing you can do to save America is by making your donation recurring,” the text at the donation link reads.
Scalise, the No. 2 in House Republican leadership, reportedly once described his politics as “David Duke without the baggage.”
