Politics
Rand Paul: ‘If we are going to criminalize speech … impeach Chuck Schumer’
Paul went on to call for a “consistent standard” if congress is to lay punishment for certain speech, adding that, as far as he is concerned, the impeachment trial is a “partisan farce” if this standard is not applied.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul says that if the impeachment of former president Donald Trump goes forward on the grounds that his speech incited the violent actions of those that stormed the Capitol building on January 6, some members of congress should also face such actions for inciting violence in the past.
“I think if we are going to criminalize speech and somehow impeach everybody who says, ‘Oh, go fight to hear your voices heard,’ really we ought to impeach Chuck Schumer then,” Paul said on Fox News Sunday. “He went to the Supreme Court, stood in front of the Supreme Court, and said specifically, ‘Hey [Justice] Gorsuch, hey [Justice] Kavanaugh, you’ve unleashed a whirlwind, and you’re going to pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you continue with these awful decisions.”
Paul went on to call for a “consistent standard” if congress is to lay punishment for certain speech, adding that, as far as he is concerned, the impeachment trial is a “partisan farce” if this standard is not applied.
“This inflammatory wording, this violent rhetoric of Chuck Schumer was so bad that the chief justice, who rarely says anything publicly, immediately said this kind of language is dangerous as a mob tried to invade the Supreme Court,” Paul said. “So if people want to hold President Trump accountable for language, there has to be a consistent standard, and to my mind, it’s a partisan farce because they’re not doing anything to Chuck Schumer, not doing anything to Rep. Omar, not doing anything to Maxine Waters. It’s just not fair. It’s just partisan politics under a different name.”
Appearing at a pro-abortion protest in front of the Supreme Court in March of last year, Schumer addressed words which many interpreted as a threat to both Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch.
“I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price! You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions,” Schumer said.
Also taking a jab at the impeachment effort was Senator Tim Cotton, who on Tuesday said the move was “beyond the constitutional authority of the Senate” and strays focus away from other important areas lawmakers should be addressing.
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