Limbaugh's Selective Memory: Conservatives Didn't Attack SCOTUS Nominees
Written by Justin Berrier
Published
Rush Limbaugh outrageously declared he and other conservatives “don't try to destroy” the careers of Democratic nominees to the Supreme Court. But Limbaugh himself, backed up by the right-wing media, launched a string of vicious and offensive attacks on both Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Sonia Sotomayor during their appointment processes.
On his radio program today, Limbaugh attacked Vice President Biden for his debate performance, claiming he's “not a nice man” but has “mastered theatrics.” He then went on to claim that Biden, like other Democrats, has “no compunction whatsoever in telling lies about decent, honorable people in the process of trying to destroy their careers.” He insisted that “We Republicans do not do that. When the Democrats nominate Supreme Court justices or circuit court judges or whathaveyou, they generally get what they want. It's very rare that we try to deny them. And even when we do, we don't try to destroy these people”:
But Limbaugh led a vicious smear campaign against both Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, the two justices nominated by President Obama.
During Kagan's appointment, in May and June of 2010, Limbaugh called her a “socialist” who will “spend the rest of her life destroying what we believe in if she's not stopped.” He accused her of disavowing the Declaration of Independence and “throwing the Constitution down the toilet.” He called on Senate Republicans to call her a liar and congratulated Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions for getting “as close to it as anybody on our side” will get. He launched baseless attacks on Kagan, falsely claiming she was anti-military and in favor of burning books.
During Sotomayor's hearings, Limbaugh accused her of being “the greatest living example of a reverse racist,” even going so far as to compare her appointment to nominating white supremacist David Duke. He suggested that she and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had to “make themselves victims” as a “route to power.” He described both Sotomayor and Kagan as “not qualified” for the Supreme Court.
Limbaugh was not alone. The right-wing media joined him in his efforts to “destroy” the careers of both Kagan and Sotomayor.