Elizabeth Warren hits out at Donald Trump for putting ‘homophobic and racist’ judges in power
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks during a town hall event (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Elizabeth Warren has unleashed an attack on Donald Trump’s nomination of anti-LGBT judges.
The Democratic Senator and presidential hopeful called out the number of fundamentalist judicial candidates being rushed into posts by the Trump administration.
Speaking at a forum in Iowa on Sunday ahead of the state’s Democratic Caucus, she said: “I think what’s at the heart of it is who you ask to be a judge. And I’ll tell you what the answer has been for Donald Trump, cause I’ve seen these guys.
“Homophobic, that’s in. Racist, that’s in. Sexist, oh yeah, most definitely. And anti-voter. That’s been a big qualification. He has named one person after another.”
Elizabeth Warren: Trump judges have documented anti-LGBT records
According to National Review, she added: “I don’t mean we have kind of a sense that that’s who those people are. I mean look at their written records. Look at the activities they’ve already engaged in. Look at the fights they’ve been in and what side they’ve been on.”
Trump’s two hardline Supreme Court justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, have shifted the consensus of the court against LGBT+ rights for the first time in years.
However, the press has provided less scrutiny of his appointments to lower courts – many of whom have ties to anti-LGBT movements or have personally expressed homophobic views.
Democratic presidential candidate Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks at an LGBTQ presidential forum on September 20, 2019 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The Human Rights Campaign has pleaded: “The Trump-Pence administration is continuing their efforts to stack the courts across the country with nominees who would not defend and uphold civil rights laws for all Americans — including LGBTQ people.
“The Senate must reject these anti-LGBTQ nominees and make clear to the Trump-Pence White House they will only confirm those who will treat all Americans equally with the dignity, objectivity and fairness they deserve.”
Republicans ram judicial nominees through Senate
However, efforts to stymie the President’s judicial appointments have met with little success, due to the Republican majority in the chamber – holding 53 seats, compared to the 47 held by Democrats and independents.
Warren has previously said that the President’s appointments “could set LGBTQ+ rights back by years.”
She wrote: “The stakes are high, and people are scared. No matter what happens at the Supreme Court, we need a president who will lift up the voices of every LGBTQ+ person, stand up to discrimination, and fight back.
“And as president, I will fight shoulder to shoulder with them – because no one should ever be unsafe, unheard, or disempowered because of who they are or who they love.”
