MAGA rage against Justice Barrett has been brewing: ANALYSIS

Justice Amy Comey Barrett has not commented on brewing right-wing criticism of her votes from the bench nor would she be expected to: members of the court almost never engage directly, much less in the moment, with political critiques.

But the blowback against Barrett is remarkable.

Not only over her vote with liberal justices to reject President Donald Trump’s effort to rescind a lower court order to pay out some $2 billion in foreign aid back in March, but also:

• Barrett joining Chief Justice John Roberts to reject then-candidate Trump’s request to delay sentencing in his New York hush money case right before his inauguration.
• Barrett joining the liberals, in part, in dissenting over an order that tossed out the appeal of Venezuelan detainees sent to El Salvador in defiance of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg.
• And then, there was the look she appeared to give Trump after his joint address to Congress. It went viral and the president’s allies claim it speaks volumes about her true views. “That’s about as close to stink eye as you can get. I’ve had a couple of my ex-wives look at me like that,” Steve Bannon said on his podcast.

While conservative lawyer Mike Davis has been the closest ally of Trump to openly criticize Barrett, she’s been attacked by other influential MAGA voices, including Laura Loomer, who accuses Trump of elevating Barrett as a “DEI Hire.”

“Justice Barrett is probably the greatest concern right now for the Trump administration,” legal scholar Jonathan Turley told Fox News last month.

“I’m worried about her. She’s a little squishy,” complained conservative commentator Megyn Kelly on her program.

“Please Donald Trump make sure you find a Scalia as our next Supreme Court justice if you get to appoint one,” podcaster Glenn Beck said recently.

Trump has not publicly turned against Barrett, likely in part because he still needs her support on a wave of emergency appeals before the court and because he went all-in for the judge from Notre Dame.

“She is one of our nation’s most brilliant legal scholars, and she will make an outstanding justice on the highest court in our land,” Trump declared in late 2020 as Barrett was sworn in.

“Justice Barrett has made clear she will issue rulings based solely upon a faithful reading of the law and the Constitution as written, not legislate from the bench,” Trump attested.

“I know you will make us all very, very proud,” he said then.

Trump defended her after the foreign aid ruling, telling reporters, “She’s a very good woman. She’s very smart, and I don’t know about people attacking her, I really don’t know.”

But sources confirmed to ABC News that Trump has discussed his frustrations with his Supreme Court picks, saying he thinks they could do more to back his agenda. And he recently attacked Federalist Society leader Leonard Leo, who advised him on judicial nominations during his first term, calling him a “sleazebag.”

“I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous judicial nominations,” Trump wrote.

It’s worth noting that Barrett is unquestionably a conservative vote on the bench and has voted in Trump’s interests numerous times.

She votes with Justice Brett Kavanaugh 90% of the time, according to Adam Feldman, author of Empirical SCOTUS, a blog which tracks the data. She has voted with Justice Alito more than she has with any of the liberals.

Legal historians say, despite the rumblings, it is not a fair comparison to liken Barrett to the late Justice David Souter, who famously became a reliable liberal vote after Republican President George H.W. Bush put him on the court in hopes of a reliable conservative.

Barrett has delivered votes overturning Roe v Wade; expanding gun rights; and rolling back the power of federal agencies as part of the administrative state — all key priorities of Trump and his supporters.