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Amy Coney Barrett’s decision to hold up a blank notebook to prove she wasn’t using notes during Tuesday’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing became quite a viral sensation on social media, inspiring a host of hilarious memes from both sides of the political aisle.
The nominee by President Trump produced the notebook at the urging of Senator John Cornyn, who told Barrett that senators use various notebooks, notes and books for reference during the hearing.
Cornyn then asked if he could hold up the preparatory materials he was using to answer the committee’s questions, to which he showed them a completely blank notepad, in addition to the “United States Senate” letterhead.
“That’s impressive,” Cornyn commented before continuing his line of questions.
But while the exchange was simply a brief moment in an audience that would otherwise last for hours, it has since been immortalized in memes thanks to the quick-witted occurrences of social media users.
Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett holds up a notebook during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday.
The Kentucky Republican Party was one of the first to put its own spin on what happened, tweeting a photo of Barrett holding the notepad with the words ‘#FILLTHESEAT’ overlaid on the page.
The president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., also sought to capitalize on the occasion, writing: ‘Unlike Joe Biden, Amy Coney Barrett doesn’t need notes or a teleprompter to remember her positions.’
Meanwhile, Trump’s senior campaign legal counsel Jenna Ellis posted a photo of Barrett holding up the blank notes and writing: ‘Judge Barrett’s political agenda.’
Supporters of President Trump, and critics of Joe Biden, also spoke out in full force.
A social media user overlaid the words ‘Joe Biden’s Achievement List’ around an image of Barrett, showing her smiling from behind the blank page.
Others imposed the words “Democrats are idiots” and “Score: ACB – 10, Dems -0” on the sheet of paper.
Right-wing digital activist organization For America tweeted a bogus conversation between a Democratic senator and Barrett, in which Barrett’s notepad was edited to read, “I know the cases you mention better than you.”
On the opposite side of the ideological divide, comedian Kathy Griffin, who has shared a series of high-profile confrontations with Donald Trump, shared the image of Barrett and his notebook, insisting that he was holding a ‘picture of his brain scan’ .
David Reaboi tweeted the same image, writing ‘What ACB was REALLY doing with his notepad’ and showing a scribble on a maid’s page from The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian book, and a television series about a totalitarian society in the that women are seen as property of the government.
Protesters wear the costumes worn by women in the series for political demonstrations against politicians and Supreme Court judges whom they consider a threat to women’s rights.
The protests took place outside the Supreme Court during the Barrett hearings, and a group of activists were heard chanting ‘Let the people decide’ on Tuesday, in support of allowing whoever wins the next election to choose Ruth’s successor. Bader Ginsburg.
Sierra Club, an environmental organization, echoed the sentiment with a notepad meme of its own, writing ‘Delay this until the inauguration.’
Barrett’s religious beliefs were also ridiculed during the tweet storm.
Along with her husband Jesse, the Supreme Court nominee is a member of the ultra-conservative religious group People of Praise, which actually inspired the handmaid’s tale.
The small group teaches wives to obey everything their husbands do, including the way they vote.
“I had to ask my husband’s permission to be here,” are the words that a social media user digitally imposed on Barrett’s notebook.
The implications of electing someone with such strong religious and conservative views to rule impartially in the Supreme Court court were also theorized.
“I’m going to override everything for Trump,” wrote one user. ‘Kiss Obamacare Goodbye,’ read another meme.
Others suggested that the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that legalized abortion runs the risk of being overturned with Barrett on the bench.
“All her wombs belong to us now,” wrote one contributor jokingly. “Overturn Roe,” wrote another.
But politics was not the only topic of discussion. One contributor used the trend to spark a controversial debate of his own, writing on Barrett’s notepad: “A hot dog is a sandwich.”
“The controversial position of ACB here,” said the author of the publication, “may be disqualifying.”
Barrett dismissed skeptical questions from Democrats about abortion, health care and a possible contested election fight over the transfer of presidential power during Tuesday’s hearing, insisting that he will not bring a personal agenda to court but will decide cases. ‘as they come’.
He stated his conservative views in often colloquial language, but rejected many details.
She declined to say whether she would abstain from any election-related case involving President Donald Trump, who nominated her to fill the post of the late Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg and is pushing for her confirmation before the Nov.3 election. .
‘Judges can’t just wake up one day and say I have an agenda – I like guns, I hate guns, I like abortion, I hate abortion – and walk in as a royal queen and impose her will on the world,’ Barrett said. to the Senate Judiciary Committee during its second day of hearings.
“It’s not Amy’s law,” he said. “It is the law of the American people.”
The death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last month started Trump’s race to confirm his election to the Supreme Court before the election.
While Republicans defend moving forward with the process, stating that it is the role of the President and the Senate to carry it out, Democrats argue that they are breaking a precedent they previously set themselves.
In 2016, then-President Barack Obama nominated Justice Merrick Garland to fill the post of Justice Antonin Scalia, following his death.
Republicans condemned the decision at the time, saying it was inappropriate for Obama to confirm to a Supreme Court justice during an election year, and that it should be the next president who decides.
But Sen. Mitch McConnell says the difference now is that the same party controls the Senate and the presidency, and with the 51 votes needed to form a simple majority, Democrats have little chance of preventing Barrett from being confirmed.
If Barrett secures his nomination, the Supreme Court will have a conservative 6-3 majority.
