Fact Check: Conservative Judge Amy Coney Barrett Has Liberal Supporters

CLAIM: President Donald Trump said that his nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett has liberal supporters.

VERDICT: TRUE.

The first question that moderator Chris Wallace asked in the presidential debate, to both candidates, was whether it was right that President Trump nominated, and the Republican Senate would confirm, Judge Barrett to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Trump argued that he had the constitutional power and obligation to nominate a justice, and pointed out that Barrett — a conservative judge and legal thinker, who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia — had many liberal supporters. That is true.

One noted liberal voice supporting Barrett was Harvard Law School professor Noah Feldman, one of the liberal experts that Democrats called to testify for their side in the impeachment inquiry. He wrote:

I disagree with much of her judicial philosophy and expect to disagree with many, maybe even most of her future votes and opinions. Yet despite this disagreement, I know her to be a brilliant and conscientious lawyer who will analyze and decide cases in good faith, applying the jurisprudential principles to which she is committed. Those are the basic criteria for being a good justice. Barrett meets and exceeds them.

Another “progressive” supporter, cited by Trump, is Notre Dame Law School professor O. Carter Snead, who wrote that liberals should not fear Barrett.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.