Sen. Lindsey Graham Confronted at Airport by Women Calling Judge Barrett Racist

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), listens during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Capitol Hill, in Washington, on Sept. 16, 2020. (Anna Moneymaker-Pool/Getty Images)

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) was confronted by two women at the airport Monday night as he returned to Washington, who accused Graham of pushing to confirm a “racist” to the Supreme Court.

“I arrived in D.C. today & was confronted by 2 women—one of whom was from Seattle—who called Judge Amy Coney Barrett a racist & unqualified. This is the modern left, hostile & unhinged,” Graham wrote on his Twitter account.

Graham, the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee who praised Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett as “one of the most amazing human beings I have ever met in my life,” during her confirmation hearings last week.

The two women who followed Graham as he made his way out of the airport accused the senator of wanting to take away their rights and the rights of their daughters. One of the women told Graham, “you're gonna’ take her rights away by voting for this woman who is a racist.”

Judge Barrett was nominated by President Trump in mid-September and has been praised for her legal qualifications, great compassion, and humility.

Barrett is the mother of seven school-age children, two of whom are adopted from Haiti, and one with special needs. Democrats and the left have been alarmed by the fact that she is a devout Catholic and have accused her of wanting to overturn abortion laws and take away healthcare for those receiving benefits through former-President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The Democrats' main focus at the hearings was Barrett’s legal views on the ACA and their claim that she would rule to help overturn the healthcare law. However, Barrett made it clear she was not going to discuss cases that may come before her and that she was not hostile to the ACA.

Barrett shared her judicial philosophy at her confirmation hearing, “I interpret the Constitution, as a law that I interpret its text as text, and I understand it to have the meaning that it had at the time people ratified it,” adding, “that meaning doesn't change over time and it's not up to me to update it or infuse my own policy views into it.”

The next step for the Supreme Court nominee is for the Senate judiciary committee, which conducted Judge Barrett’s hearings, to take a vote to move forward with the confirmation on Oct. 22, where she will pass with a majority vote. After that, the process will move forward for a full Senate debate and vote.

There are 53 Republican senators and at this point, only one has voiced objection to Barrett’s nomination, so it is likely the Republicans will get the simple majority to confirm Judge Barrett to the Supreme Court.

It is worth noting that if there is a tie, Vice President Mike Pence would vote as the tiebreaker, confirming Barrett and if at least 51 senators reject the nomination, that would end Barrett’s nomination.

In a press statement last week Graham said, “There is a seat waiting for Judge Barrett on the Court, and God-willing she will be voted out of committee and confirmed swiftly.”