Schumer: Kavanaugh ‘an Extremist,’ the ‘Most Extreme’ on Trump’s List

‘He’s not even close to a moderate’

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Before any hearings have been held, Sen. Schumer already knows enough about Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump's pick to replace Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, to pronounce him "an extremist" whose nomination he will fight with every resource at his disposal.  

Of Trump's list of 25 possible nominees, Schumer said Kavanaugh was the "most extreme" and vowed to "oppose this nominee with everything I got." 

"He is far, far right on so many issues," Schumer said in an interview Tuesday on MSNBC. "On gun rights, on environmental rights, on LGBTQ rights he’s way, way to the right of the American people. He’s not a mainstream judge. And that’s why the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation, groups that are not in the mainstream have chosen him, have pre-selected him."

"Had Donald Trump chosen someone from off the list, which I urged him to do when he called me, we might be in a different situation," he went on. "But the fact that the president campaigned on these things and created his own litmus tests and then the fact that he couldn’t let two groups that vehemently, strongly, fervently believe in these two things makes it pretty clear that this is an extreme nominee.”

"He was the judge, probably of the 25 — they all would repeal Roe, they’d all repeal ACA, but on this issue, the Mueller issue, which came up after the vetting by these two groups, he’s probably the most extreme and it wouldn’t surprise me if that was very important to Donald Trump," Schumer said. "Knowing Donald Trump and I have no proof, do you think he didn’t inquire about this either directly or indirectly? Knowing Donald Trump, what do you think? I’ll tell you what I think. ... He’s not even close to a moderate.”

Here's a full transcript:

GEIST: “Senator Schumer, it’s Willie Geist. Do you believe Judge Kavanaugh is an extremist?”
SCHUMER: “I believe he is far, far right on so many issues. The ones I’ve mentioned and particularly alarming is, of course, the one about presidential power at a time when we have a president who just routinely overreaches and doesn’t respect rule of law. But also on gun rights, on environmental rights, on LGBTQ rights he’s way, way to the right of the American people. He’s not a mainstream judge. And that’s why the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation, groups that are not in the mainstream have chosen him, have pre-selected him. Had Donald Trump chosen someone from off the list, which I urged him to do when he called me, we might be in a different situation. But the fact that the President campaigned on these things and created his own litmus tests and then the fact that he couldn’t let two groups that vehemently, strongly, fervently believe in these two things makes it pretty clear that this is an extreme nominee.”
GEIEST: “Do you believe that President Trump selected Judge Kavanaugh because of his views on presidential power and his position in that law review paper where he said that presidents should not be subject to prosecution while in office?”
SCHUMER: “I certainly believe he was the judge, probably of the 25 — they all would repeal Roe, they’d all repeal ACA, but on this issue, the Mueller issue, which came up after the vetting by these two groups, he’s probably the most extreme and it wouldn’t surprise me if that was very important to Donald Trump. Knowing Donald Trump and I have no proof, do you think he didn’t inquire about this either directly or indirectly? Knowing Donald Trump, what do you think? I’ll tell you what I think. So this idea of my dear friend Joe that he’s a moderate, on the issue you care most about, he’s not even close to a moderate.”

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