Trump: Barrett 'Will Defend Your God-Given Rights'

President holds rally in Pennsylvania on eve of SCOTUS announcement
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 27, 2020 5:44 AM CDT
Trump: Barrett 'Will Defend Your God-Given Rights'
President Trump pumps his fist during a campaign rally at Harrisburg International Airport, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Middletown, Pa.   (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)

President Trump celebrated the nomination of his third Supreme Court justice on Saturday night with a raucous campaign rally in Harrisburg, Pa., that he launched by mentioning Judge Amy Coney Barrett beneath a screen that read "fill that seat." CBS News notes that's the latest chant to circulate at the president's reelection rallies in the wake of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death, and that rally-goers Saturday night seemed to approve of the selection of Barrett. Touting Barrett's academic record, Trump crowed that, "That’s a little better than Joe Biden, wouldn’t you say? She should be running for president," per PennLive. "Most important of all, she will defend your God-given rights and freedoms," Trump said.

Pennsylvania looms large in the November election, with PennLive noting that the president has visited five times this month, including holding two rallies within the week, while Biden has also spent considerable time in the Keystone state. Trump won the state in 2016 by just 44,000 votes, and current polls show it in similar tossup territory, with Biden slightly ahead. One critic of Trump's rally: Gov. Tom Wolf, who slammed "his decision to bring thousands of people together in a tight space in the midst of a global pandemic caused by an airborne virus is flat out wrong. No matter what party you support, all Americans should be very concerned that the president has put headlines and publicity above the health and safety of our families and communities" PennLive notes that many attendees weren't wearing masks. (More Amy Coney Barrett stories.)

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