Schumer Denies Threatening Gorsuch, Kavanaugh; Admits ‘I Shouldn’t Have Used the Words I Did’

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer expressed regret on Thursday for his recent statements about Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

Chief Justice John Roberts and many others accused Schumer of making “threatening statements” when the senator said Gorsuch and Kavanaugh “will pay the price… You won’t know what hit you” if they vote against abortion in an upcoming case.

After Mitch McConnell berated Schumer on the senate floor by saying “there’s no other way to interpret” his remarks except as a threat, Schumer responded on Thursday by saying the Majority Leader “made a glaring omission” by failing to acknowledge the context of his advocating a woman’s right to have an abortion:

“What we’re talking about here, what I am fighting for here is your right to choose, an issue, of course, Leader McConnell completely ignored in his speech. I feel so passionately about this issue and I feel so deeply the anger of women all across America about senate republicans and the courts working hand in glove to take down Roe V. Wade.”

After decrying Republicans for their efforts to game the judicial system and restrict abortion rights, Schumer eventually acknowledged that “I should not have used the words I used yesterday.” He further insisted he was speaking about how President Donald Trump and Republicans will face “political consequences” for their actions, “and it is a gross distortion to imply otherwise.”

“I’m from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language. I shouldn’t have used the words I did, but in no way was I making a threat. I never, never would do such a thing. and Leader McConnell knows that, and Republicans who are busy manufacturing outrage over these comments know that, too. Now, what will remain long after the clamor over my comments dies down is the issue at hand, a woman’s constitutional right to choose and Republican attempts to invalidate it.”

Watch above, via C-SPAN 2.