It Was Obvious Amy Coney Barrett Couldn’t Be Trusted

Conservatives thought she would be their RBG. She turned out to be Trump’s worst pick

The MAGA Right no longer admires Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Over the last few weeks, the Trump appointee sided with the liberal justices in crucial cases concerning the administration. In March, Barret, along with moderate chief justice John Roberts, ruled against the Trump administration’s attempt to defund USAID, the notoriously left-wing government agency. Last week, she sided with the liberal justices again over President Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport migrants. She’s also ruled against the Right on cases concerning January 6 and presidential immunity.

Some Trump supporters want to impeach her, a proposal with zero chance of happening, but one representing the base’s anger. ACB is now widely mocked by conservative pundits and right-wing shitposters alike. This contrasts sharply with how Barrett was treated by the Right when she was first nominated. Out of all of Trump’s nominees, she received the most glowing treatment from conservative media. Conservatives saw her as their own Ruth Bader Ginsburg. They overlooked her glaring flaws. The desire to promote a role model for conservative girlbosses made them ignore her adopted Haitian kids and her tears over George Floyd.

The ACB fandom reared its head years before her nomination to the Supreme Court. When Brett Kavanaugh was picked in 2018 to replace Anthony Kennedy, many conservatives preferred Barrett, seeing her the more right-wing choice. As Kavanaugh faced fake rape accusations during his confirmation hearing, some conservatives wanted Trump to drop the man and pick Barrett in his place. What better way to stick it to sexists than to have a conservative woman on the Supreme Court instead of an alleged rapist! It turned out that the accusations against Kavanaugh were complete bullshit and conservatives eventually rallied to support him. But they still preferred ACB on the high court.

Barrett seemed to have everything conservatives could want. She had a sterling conservative reputation, she had a large family with two adopted Haitian kids, she was a devout Christian, she was telegenic, and, most importantly, she was a she. Conservatives felt they needed a “strong woman” to inspire young females to be right-wing. A hardworking, Catholic mom of seven seemed perfect.

When Barrett was nominated, conservative media absolutely fawned over her. National Review, among other things, said Barrett “is the model of a busy professional woman” with her brood of children and successful professional life. The Federalist declared that ACB “is the first big potential Supreme Court victory for Republicans in 90 years.” Fox News gushed that Barrett carries on Antonin Scalia’s legacy and will be a staunch conservative on the court.

Conservative social media users embraced memes around Barrett, particularly of her showing her empty notepad at the confirmation hearing. This lack of notes demonstrated her inherent brilliance. They made cringe “Thug Life” gifs and reaction videos of her confirmation hearing soundbites. One conservative even wrote a children’s book worshipping ACB. This adoration far exceeded that paid to Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. It was like ACB was the greatest Supreme Court justice to ever walk the Earth.

Now it’s different. The Federalist no longer considers her the greatest court victory in 90 years. The publication now sees her as a disappointment.

It should be glaringly obvious that Barrett would not be a reliable judge, at least on matters dealing with race and immigration. While conservative influencers soyjaked over her notepad, they ignored the most important part of her hearing.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) asked Barrett about the impact George Floyd’s death had on her. This is 2020, so it’s not surprising a Democrat would ask a question about the second-biggest news story of the year. Barrett’s answer should’ve raised eyebrows among conservatives.

“As you might imagine, given that I have two Black children, that was very, very personal for my family,” the judge said, before discussing how she consoled her children over the matter. “I was there, and my 17-year-old daughter Vivian, who’s adopted from Haiti, all of this was erupting. It was very difficult for her. We wept together in my room. It was also difficult for my daughter Juliet, who’s 10. I had to try to explain some of this to them.”

She went on to imply she believes in the Left’s narrative of police racism and how she worries how it will impact her two adopted Haitian children.

“My children to this point in their lives have had the benefit of growing up in a cocoon where they have not yet experienced hatred or violence. And for Vivian, you know, to understand that there would be a risk to her brother or the sons she might have one day of that kind of brutality has been an ongoing conversation. It’s a difficult one for us like it is for Americans all over the country,” Barrett said.

In response to another question from Sen. Durbin, the future Supreme Court justice indicated she also buys the notion of “systemic racism.” “I think it is an entirely uncontroversial and obvious statement, given as we just talked about the George Floyd video, that racism persists in our country,” she said. However, she did hedge and didn’t outright endorse it, saying it’s beyond what she’s capable of as a judge.

“As to putting my finger on the nature of the problem, you know, whether, as you say, it’s just outright or systemic racism or how to tackle the issue of making it better, those things, you know, are policy questions,” she added.

It was unlikely conservatives would pull her nomination over this. Most Republicans also gave similarly cringe-inducing statements about George Floyd at the time. But they did so not for personal reasons. They’re politicians; they follow the way the wind blows. When they thought the whole country was horrified by Floyd’s death, they rushed to condemn it and pretend to care about police brutality. Now that time has passed, more conservatives want the case re-examined and Derek Chauvin pardoned.

Barrett was different. She felt a personal stake in the matter due to her children. This wasn’t a mere political matter to her. Her kids convinced her that this could happen to them and that made her care. Of course, that’s nonsense. But emotion often trumps reason, especially when family is involved.

It’s clear her Haitian kids influence her immigration views. Gorsuch openly admits that his British wife shapes his immigration views. Only the most naive would think Barrett is capable of separating her kids from her rulings. Judges don’t enter a cocoon that blocks out all personal considerations when they make decisions. Family and friends absolutely influence their decision-making. Part of the reason Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are the most conservative justices is because they are married to right-wing fanatics. The lack of fanaticism among the other conservative justices’ families may explain why they are less reliable.

Immigration is our chief issue. If a justice cannot be trusted on it, they shouldn’t be elevated to the Supreme Court. Barrett’s adopted kids telegraphed her views on immigration. It’s almost certain that the criticism of Haitian migration during the election impacted her and her kids. If she thinks proper immigration enforcement will hurt people like her adoptees, she will rule against it. That’s just human nature.

Conservatives overlooked this in their fangirling for ACB. They thought the Haitians made her even more BASED because she had even more kids and destroyed left-wing accusations that she could be racist. It turns out it did not make her BASED.

The Right was too eager to have its own RBG to consider ACB’s flaws. The fixation on being more “pro-women” than the Left made conservatives excited over the prospect of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. But conservative simping, like usual, didn’t work out as planned. If they wanted a female justice, there were better choices than ACB. But her apparent star power blinded them.

Now we can’t be sure how the high court will rule on the Supreme Court, and it’s all due to the Right’s RBG.