FLASHBACK: Last Supreme Court Vacancy, Media Melted Down Over ‘Catastrophe’

Stephen Breyer, Liberal Supreme Court Justice, retired Wednesday. That prompted bizarre responses from journalists Andrea Mitchell. She bizarrely described Breyer as “conservative or moderate.” (He’s not.) Here’s a look back at the media reaction to the last vacancy, the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

On September 18, 2020, in the minutes after the death of Ginsburg was announced, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow described Hillary Clinton’s loss and Ginsburg’s death as a “feminist catastrophe.” That night, NBC’s Pete Williams absurdly claimed that she “was consistently one of the U.S. Supreme Court’s moderate to liberal members.” Moderate to liberal? Far-left? 

Later that evening on MSNBC, guest Rebecca Traister called the vacancy “the world’s most chilling and horrible poetry.” That same Friday night, ABC began lobbying for Democrats to block a replacement. 

Host George Stephanopoulos freaked out, melting down about the Court opening: “It’s as earth-shaking as it gets, Byron. Eight, nine, ten on the Richter scale.” Reporter Jon Karl echoed the growing horror of the left: “And the idea of Donald Trump replacing the liberal core of the Court with another justice like Kavanaugh or Gorsuch would tilt the Court decisively, perhaps for a generation, to the right.” 

CNN concluded the night with Gloria Borger, a CNN political analyst sounding almost like a Democratic strategist. Her mind was already occupied with devising strategies for the left that would stop Donald Trump’s naming of a replacement. 

If Donald Trump is defeated, what happens? How would the Senate be governed if it was controlled by the Democrats? What would the American people do? What would moderate Republicans do then? People like Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins who are on record. Already on the record saying, “I don’t think it’s right. It’s not how I want to be treated. Wait until the president has been elected to find out who he is. And then we ought to decide.” Whatever happened to the Senate? The Senate is meant to be governed by rules and decorum.

Look for the media to completely flip positions when it comes to Breyer’s replacement. The time has come to fill this vacancy quickly. CNN and MSNBC are the only networks that have corrupt journalists. 

You can find more FLASHBACK examples in our NewsBusters Time Machine. Click here.