Chuck Schumer: Mitch McConnell is displaying 'blatant, nasty hypocrisy'

Standing in front of the Brooklyn high school once attended by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Sunday night vowed to fight against Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said he will push to have the Senate vote on President Trump's nominee to replace Ginsburg on the Supreme Court.

McConnell blocked former President Barack Obama from being able to select a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016, claiming it was too soon before the November election. By calling for a quick vote now, when the presidential election is just 44 days away, McConnell is displaying "blatant, nasty hypocrisy," Schumer said. He urged voters to call their senators and tell them "not to listen to Mitch McConnell, not to be afraid of Mitch McConnell."

Ocasio-Cortez said it is "extraordinarily important that we understand the stakes of this vacancy. Our reproductive rights are on the line, our labor rights are on the line, our right to health care is on the line, labor and union protections are on the line, our climate is on the line." A Trump appointment puts "all of our rights, the rights that so many people died for ... at risk," she continued.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

People need to "mobilize on an unprecedented scale to ensure that this vacancy is reserved for the next president," Ocasio-Cortez said. She encouraged Americans to call their senators and lawmakers to "use every procedural tool available to us to ensure we buy ourselves the time necessary." Everyone must be "more courageous," she added, and let McConnell know "that he is playing with fire. We need to make sure that this vacancy is protected, that our election continues, and that the American people have their say."