Former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, who is considering running for president in 2020, called into doubt the legitimacy of the Supreme Court following the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Court by a 50-48 vote in the Senate on Saturday. Holder on Friday used incendiary rhetoric to call on liberals to use their “rage” to vote to “be rid of these people”–singling out Republicans in the Senate who support Kavanaugh and have used their majority power to control nominations to the courts.
Eric Holder, file screen image.
Holder wrote Saturday evening, “With the confirmation of Kavanaugh and the process which led to it, (and the treatment of Merrick Garland), the legitimacy of the Supreme Court can justifiably be questioned. The Court must now prove – through its work – that it is worthy of the nation’s trust.”
With the confirmation of Kavanaugh and the process which led to it, (and the treatment of Merrick Garland), the legitimacy of the Supreme Court can justifiably be questioned. The Court must now prove – through its work – that it is worthy of the nation’s trust.
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) October 6, 2018
On Friday Holder expressed similar concerns in comments but also exhorted his supporters use their “rage” about how the Republicans who control the Senate used their power to confirm Kavanaugh and fill other judicial seats to “be rid of these people.” While Holder wrote he was urging people to vote to “be rid of these people”, his choice of language encouraging liberals to ‘use their rage’ to ‘be rid of these people’ is deliberate.
“Reputation and credibility of Supreme Court at stake with upcoming vote. How the Court is viewed. For years. Bigger than one individual. There are conservative acceptable alternatives…As you lament the Merrick Garland outrage never forget that McConnell and R’s did not fill lower court seats for YEARS. Those are the seats being filled now. Use the rage of today to get people out to vote and be rid of these people. Your voice matters. Your vote counts. VOTE!”
Reputation and credibility of Supreme Court at stake with upcoming vote. How the Court is viewed. For years. Bigger than one individual. There are conservative acceptable alternatives.
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) October 5, 2018
With the confirmation of Kavanaugh and the process which led to it, (and the treatment of Merrick Garland), the legitimacy of the Supreme Court can justifiably be questioned. The Court must now prove – through its work – that it is worthy of the nation’s trust.
— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) October 6, 2018
Holder currently is Chairman of the anti-GOP ‘National Democratic Redistricting Committee‘.
CNN reported in July on Holder’s presidential ambitions and 2018 campaign activities.
“Do you at least have any interest in being president of the United States?” City Councilman Wendell Young asked him Friday — the first question to the former US attorney general as a who’s who of Democrats in the Cincinnati area sat in a cramped law office conference room.
After his standard caveats — he says it’s something he needs to talk about with his family and won’t actually decide on until early 2019 — a confident Holder leaned in.
“Am I interested it?” he asked. “Yeah, I’m interested!”
…Holder, who has traveled the country as head of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee and raised money for Democrats in about a dozen states, has been up front about a potential presidential run, and his busy schedule has Democrats taking notice — especially when his travels take him to states key to a presidential election.
Holder’s travels have taken him to Arizona, Indiana and Ohio for state Democratic Party dinners, as well as Florida, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Texas, Pennsylvania, Florida and Georgia for events and meetings with local activists. Holder’s meetings generally focus on combating gerrymandering, his cause célèbre since leaving the Obama administration, but his events are often peppered with politics and — invariably — comments about his future.
Holder is prone to using violent rhetoric against Republicans. In March he spoke about having a “knife fight” with the GOP.
Former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder used violent anti-GOP rhetoric in a campaign stop in Wisconsin Thursday, challenging Republicans to a knife fight.
Holder couched his violence in passive-aggressive legalese, saying, “We have to be ready to, you know, not do anything inappropriate, not do anything improper, certainly not do anything unlawful. But to the extent that they want to have a fight, let’s do it. You want to rumble, let’s rumble. You want to have a knife fight, we’re gonna do it.”
