In Thursday interview on FM Talk 1065’s “Midday Mobile,” Congressman Bradley Byrne (AL-1) criticized Senate Democrats over their handling of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process.
“It’s just a zoo over there,” Byrne remarked.
The Republican from southwest Alabama lamented that the Democrats, along with the national news media, are feeding out-of-control liberal protesters, and even further, destroying important American institutions and principles.
“But the thing that really makes this sad to me is I have such tremendous respect for the judiciary and this is a good man. And we’re tearing up the federal judiciary and we’re tearing up a good man because people want to be president of the United States, because the national news media wants to sell more ads – because they can get more people to watch,” Byrne outlined.
While Byrne hopes that the institutional and societal damage can be repaired, he is worried the point of no return may have been passed.
“I’m afraid we have opened the door and we’ll never close this door. Even if it’s a Democratic president that makes this appointment, we’re going to go through this over and over again. That is not good for America and it’s not good for the judiciary,” Byrne advised.
Byrne and the host, Sean Sullivan, then talked about the Democrats with 2020 presidential ambitions that are at the center of the debacle.
“Stop, Spartacus, stop,” Byrne said, laughing at the thought of Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ). “You mean the confessed groper. He confessed to a sexual assault.”
Byrne made it clear what he thought of many of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee who turned the confirmation process into a “national disgrace,” as Kavanaugh called it.
“I want to get all of them under oath and say, ‘Okay, let me ask you about what you did in high school and college. Let’s find out what you did.’ We already know, Senator Booker has told us, part of what he did, let’s get all of those Democratic senators that have been so self-righteous, let’s get them all under oath and ask them, ‘Tell me what you did.’ You know what, it wouldn’t be a pretty picture,” Byrne emphasized.
He said the senators have gotten way off track from even the original allegation of sexual assault.
“[W]e’ve wandered away from that, now we’re [discussing] drinking and throwing ice at a bar. Somebody said, ‘Aren’t you worried about the fact that he threw ice at a bar.’ And I said, ‘Really, that’s what we’re down to now?’ And that is what we’re down to now, because the desperation of the Democrats is, ‘well this didn’t work, let’s try that. Oh, that didn’t work, let’s try this.’ And at some point, you just have to say, enough – the circus is over, we’re going to do what the Senate is supposed to do,” Byrne explained.
“It hurts the country, it is hurting our country,” Byrne said of the Democrats’ behavior.
He continued, “But the people that are involved with all of this, they don’t care. Let me tell you who they don’t care about – they don’t care about Dr. Ford. They used her as sure as you and I are sitting here. If you go back and look at how this came out … My heart goes out to both of [Kavanaugh and Ford]. I think they’ve both been victimized by what’s happened the last several weeks.”
He later discussed the mistreatment of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Kavanaugh’s sexual assault accuser, by Senate Democrats, saying, “In this regard, it’s totally political. If you look at the circumstances in-which all of this came out, c’mon – it just stinks.”
He talked about the leaking of Ford’s then-confidential story, implying that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) was likely complicit in some fashion.
“It’s just not believable that the Democrats didn’t leak this, and if you go back and look at the circumstances that occurred before that, it looks like it was all planned,” Byrne said, alluding to the fact that the Democrats sat on the information for weeks.
Byrne, who gave a full-throated endorsement of Kavanaugh on the House floor last week, reaffirmed that it is past time for the Senate to vote and confirm the nominee.
Senator Doug Jones’ imminent “no” vote on the nominee came up later in the interview, with Byrne challenging Jones’ own assertion that he had been truly open-minded when considering Kavanaugh.
“I know of no information to indicate that Senator Jones even bothered to talk one-on-one with Judge Kavanaugh. Now, he’s a former prosecutor. If he really wants to find out what’s going on here, why wouldn’t you sit in a room one-on-one in-person with [Kavanaugh] and do his own questioning? I think Doug Jones is more than capable of doing that. Why didn’t he do that before he made up his mind?” Byrne queried.
He answered his own question, explaining, “Because this is not a decision based upon Judge Kavanaugh or not. This is a decision, as it is for so many of the Democrats in the Senate, based upon what they think, where they’re trying to get a liberal person on the court and keep a conservative person off the court.”
Like Congressman Gary Palmer (AL-6), Byrne is not surprised at Jones’ opposition to Kavanaugh’s confirmation, as Byrne believes Jones is a true believer of liberal values and supporter of his party’s causes.
“It’s not just this vote, there are other votes that [Jones] has made, other things that he’s said,” Byrne said.
Byrne added, “Look, his maiden speech on the floor of the United States Senate was on gun control. In Alabama, gun control means we use both hands – you know, we’re not a gun control state.”
You can listen to the entire interview below.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
