Senate GOP confirms world-class bigot to most powerful appeals court

She blamed women who drank too much for falling victim to date rape, said sexism and racial oppression are “myths,” and on top of that, she has never been a judge.

In spite of it all, Neomi Rao will now sit on the most powerful federal appeals court in the country, after Senate Republicans voted to confirm her on Wednesday with a strict party-line vote.

Some Republicans had initially voiced concern with Rao’s nomination, including Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), who was taken aback by Rao’s comments on date rape.

“I had a chance to review a number of your writings while you were in college,” Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican up for re-election in 2020, said at Rao’s confirmation hearing in February. “They do give me pause. Not just from my own personal experiences but regarding messages we send young women everywhere.”

Yet, forgive us if you’ve heard that before, Ernst and other Republicans who were concerned about her past still voted to confirm her anyway.

Democrats, for their part, blasted Rao’s confirmation.

“Neomi Rao once wrote about survivors of date rape that if a woman ‘drinks to the point where she can no longer choose, well, getting to that point was part of her choice.’ And she’s up for a lifetime appointment today to the D.C. Circuit?” Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) tweeted. “This is absurd. I’m on my way to vote NO.”

Yet without the majority, those Democrats were powerless to stop her confirmation.

Rao will now fill the seat vacated by Brett Kavanaugh, who was confirmed to the Supreme Court despite the fact he faced credible sexual assault allegations.

How fitting.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.