Far-right provocateur Tomi Lahren raised eyebrows with comments suggesting liberals will commit an "insurrection" over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe vs. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood.
The majority opinion leaked yesterday—the first time such a leak has ever occurred. It made public the SCOTUS' intention to overturn both the 1973 and subsequent 1992 ruling guaranteeing reproductive freedom.
Chief Justice John Roberts verified the opinion is authentic, but only a draft. He said an investigation into the leak was underway.
Many on the right are convinced the leak came via a pro-choice SCOTUS clerk, despite lack of any evidence.
Speaking with Fox & Friends First hosts Carley Shimkus and Joey Jones, Lahren claimed the leak of the opinion is an "intimidation" tactic by Democrats and predicted an "insurrection" that will be "summer 2020" reignited.
See her comments below.
Lahren told Shimkus and Jones the leak is a last-ditch effort by Democrats to have any hope of winning November's midterm elections.
"[This is] absolutely an intimidation tactic and also a distraction tactic here."
"I think that the only way the Democrats have a chance in November is if they rile everybody up, get people to the polls with these emotional, cultural issues."
She then went on to invoke the summer 2020 anti-racism protests, comparing protests over reproductive rights to the right-wing coup attempt of January 6, 2021.
"You’re going to see summer 2020 reignited w/protests--dare I say insurrection.”
But as many pointed out, it is more likely the leak was an effort by a right-wing activist seeking to retain the opinion's extremely conservative approach to Roe, which would likely be softened in subsequent edits under the SCOTUS' normal procedure.
Nevertheless, Lahren is not alone in casting the opinion leak as a liberal "insurrection."
It hasn't been 24 hours since the opinion leaked, but scores of conservative commentators and Republican politicians have used the word in their outraged takes blaming liberals for the SCOTUS leak.
In a Fox News rant, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee asserted the leak of a document and the deadly storming of the Capitol are on equal ground.
His hot take primed conservatives to use the word "insurrection" whenever discussing it.
"[I]t’s an egregious form, if you will, of insurrection, and I hope that everyone will use that term, because if what happened Jan. 6 was an insurrection, this absolutely is an insurrection."
Lahren is likely correct in assuming protests over the opinion will occur, because the opinion's verbiage hints the SCOTUS' ambitions don't just stop at overturning Roe v. Wade.
Alito claims the latest decision will not be applied to other rights the SCOTUS has granted.
But Alito's opinion justifies the repeal of Roe by attacking the interpretation of the 14th Amendment that underpins the original decision—and which is foundational to decisions that legalized interracial and same-sex marriage and access to contraception.
In short, far more is at stake in regards to the decision than the November midterms—including for Lahren herself, whose own well documented pro-choice views nearly cost her job at far-right media network The Blaze back in 2017.
On Twitter, people found her take on the matter absurd.
The hypocrisy inherent in Lahren's hot take given her pro-choice views was not lost on people either.
Protests over the opinion have indeed already begun.
Hundreds gathered outside the SCOTUS last night to demonstrate against the forthcoming decision.
It was a peaceful gathering, unlike the January 6 insurrection.
@Variety/X
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