Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) did something today that more Democrats need to do when they catch a Republican telling a blatant lie: Call them out and let the world know.
During debate on legislation to protect Supreme Court justices and their staff, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) began hollering loudly, suggesting that Democrats said “not to worry” when some justices were protested at their homes shortly after a draft abortion opinion leaked out and seemed to indicate that the high court’s six conservative justices are ready to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade opinion that legalized a woman’s right to make her own reproductive choices:
“That’s the position of Democrats in this body! And that’s why we’re saying why did it take so long? Six weeks ago was when the draft leak happened and the protests started at justices’ homes almost immediately after the leak of that draft!”
When it was time for Democrats to speak, Lieu destroyed Jordan by using facts to counter what the Ohio Republican had just said:
“I’m going to respond to that because what he just said was a lie. The fact that he’s saying that Democrats think there’s nothing wrong, there’s no danger to Supreme Court justices is a lie. Why? Because we’re the majority party and, look, we just put this bill up and we’re about to vote on it.”
But Lieu was just getting warmed up, and he added:
“We clearly care about Supreme Court justices, but we also care about the families and employees of the Supreme Court and that is what we’re talking about today. Republicans are misleading you. Supreme Court justices, right now, have law enforcement protection details. They are protected by law enforcement.”
Before he finished, Lieu also managed to get in a reminder that Republicans are the ones who seem to be in favor of terrorizing people:
“You want to talk about intimidation?. I’ll tell you what intimidation is. It is Trump supporters assaulting the Capitol on Jan. 6, brutalizing 140 police officers. That is intimidation!”
