Far-right Republican Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn has drawn the internet's ire after comments she made in an interview calling for protesters to be arrested.
Seemingly unaware the First Amendment exists or how a democracy works, Blackburn told far-right propaganda network Newsmax people peacefully protesting the Supreme Court's potential overturn of reproductive rights should be arrested for "trying to change the outcome of a SCOTUS decision."
Since that's literally how free speech works, her comments naturally drew a wave of people online eager to inform Blackburn of what the Constitution she claims to hold so dear actually says.
See her comments below.
Blackburn was commenting upon the ongoing protests outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, the author of the leaked majority opinion showing the Court's intentions to overturn reproductive rights.
By all accounts the protests have been not only peaceful, but downright cordial. Stories have abounded of protesters and Alito's neighbors serving each other wine and cheese, charcuterie and pie and even sharing their snacks with the assembled media.
But to hear Blackburn tell it, you'd think the protesters were throwing Molotov cocktails at Justice Alito's house.
She told Newsmax's Chris Salcedo:
"They’re trying to change the outcome of a SCOTUS decision, and they’re doing it by showing force and intimidation."
"They should haul all these people down to police headquarters, they should book them."
Thankfully, that is not how things work in the United States at the moment.
Even if it were, though, this is an interesting tack for Blackburn to take, since she has repeatedly defended the violent protesters who stormed the Capitol on January 6, resulting in five deaths and over 100 injuries to law enforcement and millions of dollars in damages.
Blackburn also signed her name to a joint statement with fellow Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty refusing to accept the results of the 2020 election, which she and most Republicans maintain was fraudulent.
That statement read in part:
"American democracy relies on the consent of the governed."
Suffice to say the reproductive-rights activists outside Alito's home do not consent to be governed in the way that will result from the Supreme Court's proposed decision should it be adopted.
On Twitter, Blackburn's comments drew no shortage of angry pushback from people eager to give her a lesson in civics.
In addition to supporting the January 6 insurrection, Blackburn has also outspokenly supported the "trucker convoy" protests in Canada, which held several cities across the country hostage for weeks and resulted in several incidents of harassment against residents at the hands of the protestors.
Sounds like Blackburn just doesn't like protests that are not led by Republicans.
Liam McBurney/PA Images via Getty Images
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