Schumer walks back Supreme Court criticism after Roberts slams his 'dangerous' comments

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is admitting he "shouldn't have used the words I did" after recent comments of his drew a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.

Schumer during a recent rally spoke about an abortion case the Supreme Court is hearing and said of Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, "you have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions." Roberts subsequently criticized Schumer, saying that "threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous."

On Thursday, Schumer walked back his comments, saying, "I should not have used the words I used yesterday. They didn't come out the way I intended to." He went on to say that "in no way was I making a threat" and that "I'm from Brooklyn. We speak in strong language."

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Schumer's spokesperson had previously lashed out at Roberts for his rebuke, saying in a statement on Wednesday, "For Justice Roberts to follow the right wing's deliberate misinterpretation of what Senator Schumer said, while remaining silent when President Trump attacked Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg last week, shows Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes." Brendan Morrow