Schumer Demands President Trump Discriminate In Favor Of African Americans

Would you trust your healthcare to a physician who graduated from med school with a D minus?  Logically, you’d place your trust in someone more qualified with your life.

When Sen. Chuck Schumer rejected the President’s nominee for a long-vacant South Carolina federal judgeship because of his race, he drew the indignation of Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) who is a former federal prosecutor.

I hate to interrupt Senator Schumer with facts. But one nominee was withdrawn because of a significant bond issue, while the other became the Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court.https://t.co/Hoj9e1xWhs

— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) March 1, 2018

In addition, Senator Schumer did not oppose a recent white nominee in South Carolina also nominated by President Trump.

— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) March 1, 2018

Marvin Quattlebaum is uniquely well qualified for the bench and universally respected by all in South Carolina. Hopefully Senator Schumer can find a way to look at really unusual factors (like qualifications) in the future.

— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) March 1, 2018

Schumer said he would not be a part of the Trump administration's pattern of nominating white men.

"The nomination of Marvin Quattlebaum speaks to the overall lack of diversity in President Trump’s selections for the federal judiciary. It's long past time the judiciary starts looking a lot more like the America it represents. Having a diversity of views and experience on the federal bench is necessary for the equal administration of justice."

The Democrat Party has a long, long history of identity and race-based politics.  He expressed no qualms about Marvin Quattlebaum’s record or his judicial views. Schumer was gung-ho over nominating Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016 who is a white guy.

Sen. Tim Scott, the Senate's only black Republican, pushed back on Schumer's rationale and urged other Senate Democrats to instead address diversity issues by starting with their own staff.

"Perhaps Senate Democrats should be more worried about the lack of diversity on their own staffs than attacking an extremely well-qualified judicial nominee from the Great State of South Carolina," Scott tweeted Thursday morning.

Despite Schumer’s crybaby tactic, Quattlebaum was confirmed by the Senate 69-29.  Sen. Angus King (I-ME) voted to confirm him along with 18 other Democrats who broke with Schumer. 

Schumer’s not-so-veiled call for affirmative action on the federal bench raised quite a few eyebrows and while being interviewed by CNN’s Wolf Blitzer today, Schumer did an Olympic-style gold medal flip-flop.

Blitzer asked if Schumer's vote was "payback," since the senator justified his comments about Quattlebaum's race by arguing Republicans were unfair toward prior nominees.

Schumer blamed "right-wing radio" for "distorting his words."

"What I said is this: that Barack Obama had nominated, I think as early as 2013, two people for this seat, and our Republican senators from South Carolina blocked them with the withholding of the blue slip, which has been a tradition. So, this seat has been vacant for a long time, the two people nominated were African-Americans and I said, ‘Now this fellow is white, and we need the bench to have real diversity. The president's record in nominating people of color, even nominating women to the bench—I think the bench should look like America, and I think most Americans agree with that. And the fact they held up two people for so long and now wanted to get their fellow to come in made no sense, and compounding the injury was the lack of diversity on the bench."

NOTE:  The “blue slip” Chuckles cited is a form used in the Senate to voice a senator’s support for or disapproval of a judicial nominee.  Last year Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) abandoned the blue slip precedent.