Richard Garnett, friend and former co-worker of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, tells ‘Fox & Friends’ why he thinks she’s the right fit for the Supreme Court.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Senator I see no conflict
senator, I see no conflict
between having a sincerely held
faith and duties as a judge.
In fact, we have many judges. Both
state and federal across the
country have sincerely held
religious views and still
impartially and honestly
discharge their obligations as a
judge and when im confirmed as
a judge, I would decide cases
according to the rule of law,
beginning to end
Ainsley, that is Trump Supreme
Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett,
shutting down attacks on her
faith and ability to serve as an
impartial judge during her
appeals court confirmation hear
ing back in twenty seventeen
and now her long time, friend
of twenty years, defending Coney
Barrett saying
her religious experience is no
different than millions of
Americans.
That friend neighbor and
former colleague at Notre Dame
Richard Garnette joins us now
good morning to you Rick
good morning. Thank you
Ainsley. Why do you think shes
a good fit?
Amy Barrett is going to be
an excellent justice if shes
confirmed auto, it was thinking
this morning about in high
school. I went through a phase
where I liked this band called
rush and they had an album
called grace under pressure and
thatS Amy Barrett.
She is poised and shes also as
a teacher and a scholar,
incredibly rigourous and focused,
and I think we saw that last
time around when she was being
confirmed by the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
I think we saw that in the clip
that you just showed that in
the face of attacks that were, in
my view, inappropriate and
unfortunate, she was very clear
and direct in assuring Americans
and assuring the senators that
she understands the role of a
judge, and she understands the
task of a judge is to answer
legal questions and not
religious questions.
So I have a great deal of
confidence in her ability to
really contribute to the Supreme
Court.
Ainsley tell us more about her
personally and then well get
into the critics, because I
know your wife Nicole. They clerk
Ed together,
your w wife was clerking for
Clarence Thomas and she was
clerking for Scalia.
What was her reputation?
Yeah her reputation as a
law clerk that year we met more
than twenty two years ago. I believe she
was widely reputed be one of the
smartest law clerks in the
building. My friend, Professor
Noah Feldman up at Harvard has
said as much repeatedly but ive
really had the privilege, my wife
and I have of being friends with
Amy and Jessie Barrett. For a
long time, neighbors and
colleagues with faculty of the
Notre Dame LAW School
shes, a beloved teacher, she
always wins the teacher award, so
none of the rest of us always
have a chance to win it.
Ainsley shes the godmother to
one of your daughters right.
She is a godmother to my
middle daughter and our children
are friends, theyve kind of
grown up together.
Just the other day when the
barrettes got back from the
rose garden ceremony, I
looked out the window and my
youngest son and her young boys
were having some kind of a Jedi
war in the backyard, and
it was a nice picture.
Ainsley thats cute were
showing the pictures of your
kids playing together and real
quickly. She has seven children
and thats, just amazing and
shes adopted two children.
What do you know about that?
I know the family very well,
like I said, weve been
neighbors the whole time
our siblings kind of our
children kind of match up pretty
well as friends, so ive been
able to watch her kids grow up
and I just admire how that
family works together as a team,
both Amy and Jessie, and all of
the kids. Frankly,
they all pitch into make this
collective team effort work
well and it does
its very impressive
all over South Bend, it isnt a
very big town, everybody who
knows the barrettes kind of
admires them and wonders how
they do it, but they do it very
well- and you know theyre
involved not just with their own
family, but with Jessie Barretts
coached, my kids, soccer teams and
Amy Barretts been the classroom
mom for some of my kids
kindergarten classes, so theyre
engaged in the community and
theyre very generous with their
time
Ainsley Rick thats. All the.
Transcript generated on 2020-10-17.