Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, excoriated colleague Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., on Tuesday, accusing him of labeling the U.S. Constitution and newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett as "racist, sexist, homophobic."
"Of all the irresponsible and inflammatory statements I've heard over the last few weeks, and I've heard some doozies, this might well be the worst," Lee told Fox News' "Fox & Friends."
Lee was reacting to Markey's Twitter post Monday, hours before Barrett, 48, was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court by a 52-48 vote in the Senate, without any Democrat voting to approve.
Markey tweeted:
"Originalism is racist. Originalism is sexist. Originalism is homophobic. Originalism is just a fancy word for discrimination."
Legal scholars have characterized Barrett as an originalist, which the U.S. Constitution Center has explained as the belief "that the constitutional text ought to be given the original public meaning that it would have had at the time that it became law."
Lee was infuriated by Markey's post.
"If you think about what he is really saying there, Sen. Markey has essentially said that our Constitution is racist," Lee said. "And an effort to understand it, understand its words at the time they were written, is itself racist and bigoted.
"I can't think of a statement that has a greater tendency to undermine the foundation of our constitutional republic. I hope, expect, and demand that Sen. Markey retract his statement. It is irresponsible; he can't defend that."
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