The White House defended protesters who harassed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Friday at a Morton’s Steakhouse in Washington, DC.
“Peaceful protests, people should be allowed to do that … if it’s outside a restaurant. If it’s peaceful, for sure,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Friday during the daily briefing.
The leftist protest group ShutDownDC stationed themselves outside Morton’s Steakhouse in Washington, DC on Wednesday night, loudly protesting their decision to serve Kavanaugh.
Morton’s said Kavanaugh and their other patrons were “unduly harassed by unruly protesters” in a statement condemning the actions.
“Politics, regardless of your side or views, should not trample the freedom at play of the right to congregate and eat dinner,” the restaurant said. “There is a time and place for everything. Disturbing the dinner of all of our customers was an act of selfishness and void of decency.”
Jean-Pierre repeated that President Joe Biden continued to condemn violent protests and “intimidation” of Supreme Court justices.
But she also indicated that the White House did not mind protesters interrupting a justice’s dinner, provided the protest was peaceful.
“We want to see the protests be peaceful,” she said.
Jean-Pierre said the right to protest Kavanaugh was part of the democratic process.
“This is what a democracy is. People have the right,” she said. “Of course people have a right to privacy, but people also have a right to protest peacefully.”