Politics

‘Disgraceful Attacks’ — McConnell Slams Democrats, Media For Attacking Amy Coney Barrett’s Faith

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Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Democrats and the media for pushing attacks on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett for her faith.

McConnell sent out a press release Wednesday regarding several articles published by the media which focused on Barrett’s Catholic faith. One of the articles focuses on Barrett’s time in law school at the University of Notre Dame, specifically how she lived in a nine-bedroom residence owned by Kevin Ranaghan. Ranaghan co-founded the group People of Praise, a religious group with ties to Barrett and her family.

A Guardian report says her husband Jesse Barrett lived in the residence before they were married in 1999. The Kentucky Republican criticized the Guardian for implying that Barrett did something wrong by living in a group home in graduate school which shared her religious beliefs and where she then met her husband, saying most Americans would call it “a beautiful story.”

“The ongoing attacks by Senate Democrats and the media on Judge Barrett’s faith are a disgrace. They demean the confirmation process, disrespect the Constitution, and insult millions of American believers. Yesterday, the Guardian claimed it “rais[es] new questions” that Judge Barrett chose faith-centered student housing while attending a Catholic law school. Only our self-parodying liberal media would call it a scandal that a young person in graduate school found community in shared religious beliefs and met their future spouse. Most Americans would call that a beautiful story,” McConnell’s statement said.

Seventh U.S. Circuit Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett (L), President Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court, meets with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) as she begins a series of meetings to prepare for her confirmation hearing, on Capitol Hill on September 29, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Susan Walsh-Pool/Getty Images)

McConnell then went on to attack The Washington Post for a report about Barrett’s religious community.

“Hours later, the Washington Post decided to report on terminology in an old directory from Judge Barrett’s religious community. The word ‘handmaid’ appears dozens of times in the King James Bible. It was good enough for the Virgin Mary. But now, because one liberal author put it in the title of an anti-religious novel in the 1980s, the press tries to imply that one of the most brilliant and powerful women in the legal world is anti-woman,” McConnell’s statement read. (RELATED: ‘Nothing Nefarious’: Ben Sasse Criticizes Story On Amy Coney Barrett’s Law School Housing)

Politico also faced criticism from McConnell for sending a contributing editor to Indiana to detail her relationship with a faith group. (RELATED: These Are The Attacks Supreme Court Nominee Amy Coney Barrett Has Already Faced From Democrats)

“Last week, Politico had a contributing editor physically snoop around a faith group in Indiana and report what a youth group had left on their whiteboard. Our coastal elites are so disconnected from their own country that they treat religious Americans like strange animals in a menagerie. Sadly, the press is only following the lead of Senate Democrats,” McConnell added.

McConnell has said that the Senate will move forward with the confirmation of Barrett after speaking to Trump, who tested positive for coronavirus Friday. Three Republican senators have since tested positive for coronavirus.