Sen. Marsha Blackburn Accused of Antisemitism for Attack on Sen. Chuck Schumer

Just days following the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first Jewish woman to sit on the nation’s highest court, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) suggested that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is also Jewish, believed “only atheists can be Supreme Court Justices.”

Blackburn tweeted “in Chuck Schumer’s America — only atheists can be Supreme Court Justices” just as Schumer attended a memorial service for Justice Gunsburg, who was the first Jewish person ever granted the honor of laying in state in the U.S. Capitol.

The intention of Blackburn’s tweet is unclear, but one possible interpretation is that she sees Judaism — and perhaps any non-Christian religion — as akin to atheism. However, even if this offensive and flawed logic was the basis of her comment, it remains inaccurate; Schumer has voted to confirm Catholic and Jewish Supreme Court Justices alike (Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, respectively).

This was not Blackburn’s first time making lightly veiled antisemitic statements. In 2019, she indicated support for the conspiracy theory that a Jewish cabal was responsible for the impeachment of Donald Trump. In 2018, Blackburn was listed as a speaker alongside several white supremacists at an event hosted by an Islamophobic hate group. In 2017, Blackburn, along with infamously white supremacist Congressman Steve King (R-IA), met with leaders of the Austrian Freedom Party — a political party founded by neo-Nazis — who have come under fire for engaging in Holocaust denial and promoting antisemitism.