When Justice Brett Kavanaugh moved on to the Supreme Court, he left an open position behind him. The problem is that the woman who Donald Trump nominated to replace him hit a rough patch when she appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Neomi Rao is currently serving as administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs and the president’s “deregulatory czar,” according to NPR. but Trump nominated her to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. It appears that the Democrats on the committee are dead set against her.
Journalist for Vox Aaron Rupar sent out several tweets of Rao appearing before the senators, including Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA), who is running for president in 2020 and was formerly the attorney general of the state of California. Rupar tweeted:
‘Rao is grilled about past writings in which she was critical of restrictions on dwarf-tossing. It’s like she was on a mission to take the most loathsome position possible on all issues.’
Rao is grilled about past writings in which she was critical of restrictions on dwarf-tossing.
It’s like she was on a mission to take the most loathsome position possible on all issues. pic.twitter.com/NSkN4SKOQo
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 5, 2019
Rupar captured Senator Harris questioning Rao about her controversial “no” doesn’t necessarily mean “no.” in rape cases comment. She dug deeper into Rao’s background:
‘Under questioning from
@KamalaHarris, Rao says she regrets writing that “no” doesn’t necessarily always mean “no” in college. “I would not express myself that way today,” she says.’
Under questioning from @KamalaHarris, Rao says she regrets writing that “no” doesn’t necessarily always mean “no” in college.
“I would not express myself that way today,” she says. pic.twitter.com/81D2k6rN7W
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 5, 2019
Rao would be sitting on the nation’s second highest appeals court. Democrats were interested in her writings about “sexual assault, environmental protections and multiculturalism.”
When she was a student at Yale, Rao’s writings reflected political positions “too far outside the mainstream” to sit on this court. She told the senators that she had “matured:”
‘To be honest, looking back at some of those writings, I cringe at some of the language I used. I certainly regret any implication of blaming the victim.’
If Governor (D-VA) can be ousted for truly horrible blackface photos while he was in medical school, should Rao be accepted with her blame-the-victim in rapes writings while she was in college?
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