Fox News host Mark Levin just trained his rhetorical fire on the Supreme Court.
Few expected he’d go after a once-promising Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice thought.
But Mark Levin unleashed a shocking attack on Amy Coney Barrett that had conservatives stunned.
Levin takes aim at Barrett over birthright citizenship comments
Fox News host Mark Levin is known for his fiery rhetoric aimed at liberal politicians and judges who don’t uphold the Constitution.
But on Sunday night’s episode of Life, Liberty & Levin, he turned his attention to Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee who was expected to be a reliable conservative vote by many when she was first appointed.
Levin’s rage was triggered by Barrett’s line of questioning during oral arguments last week on the Trump administration’s efforts to limit birthright citizenship.Â
During the arguments, Barrett appeared to question the administration’s commitment to following lower court rulings it might disagree with.
This sparked a wild rant from Levin, who accused Barrett of fundamentally misunderstanding the role of the courts.
“You see, ladies and gentlemen, Barrett has it all wrong. She’s worried about power,” Levin declared to his viewers.
Levin reminds Barrett of the Supreme Court’s darkest moments
The Fox News commentator didn’t hold back, going through a history lesson of the Supreme Court’s worst decisions to make his point that judges aren’t infallible and shouldn’t be treated as such.
Levin specifically referenced three infamous Supreme Court decisions: 1857’s Dred Scott v. Sandford, which upheld slavery, 1896’s Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed racial segregation, and 1944’s Korematsu v. United States, which allowed Japanese-Americans to be detained indefinitely during World War II.
In a particularly shocking moment, Levin directly addressed Barrett through his program.
“So I would ask Justice Barrett, should that decision have been honored?” he said of the Court’s ruling on slavery. “Is that okay with you?”
Levin continued hammering his point home with increasing intensity.
“Ask the people who were put in internment camps in the United States, the Japanese Americans under FDR in the Korematsu decision when your court upheld it or ask all the people who had to deal with segregation in the Plessy case in 1896 because your court ruled separate but equal as equal,” Levin stated.
He added, “Now, you eventually got around to Brown versus Board of Education to fix it. But for about 60 years, in the intervening period of time, people suffered as a result of the Supreme Court decision.”
Trump’s relationship with his appointees grows complicated
The dispute highlights the growing tension between some conservatives and the Supreme Court justices appointed during Trump’s first term. While Trump nominees Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett have delivered conservative victories on issues like abortion and religious liberty, they haven’t always aligned with Trump on all issues, especially Barrett.
Barrett’s questions during the birthright citizenship arguments suggest she might not automatically side with the administration on this issue, despite being appointed by Trump.
The case revolves around President Trump’s efforts to limit birthright citizenship for children born to non-citizens temporarily in the United States. The 14th Amendment grants citizenship to all persons “born or naturalized in the United States,” but the administration argues this shouldn’t apply to everyone regardless of their parents’ status.
Barrett’s questioning of Solicitor General D. John Sauer appeared to challenge the administration’s position, prompting Levin’s fierce response.
While the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on the birthright citizenship case, Levin’s rant signals potential fractures in the conservative movement if Trump appointees don’t rule as expected on this issue.
The episode demonstrates how even Supreme Court justices handpicked by Trump aren’t immune from criticism from conservative commentators when they appear to deviate from the America First agenda.
When the Court ultimately rules on the birthright citizenship case later this year, the decision will likely further define the relationship between the Trump administration and the justices he appointed during his first term.
