Liberals on mainstream media outlets and on Twitter expressed outrage over a string of recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, announced this week from the majority-conservative court.
After the highest court in the land ruled against affirmative action policies in college admissions, ruled against President Joe Biden’s student loan bailout, and ruled in favor of a Colorado graphic designer’s free speech to refuse making wedding websites for same-sex couples – all in the span of two days – prominent liberals were dismayed.
CNN hosts argued that the string of conservative decisions would usher in the return of Jim Crow laws, MSNBC contributors and network guests claimed they would pave the way for the end of legalized gay marriage, and other prominent liberal commentators proclaimed on Twitter that these rulings were evidence that the court had become a "MAGA political operative."
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Shortly after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of the Colorado web designer on Friday, CNN host Sara Sidner suggested that the discrimination the decision allows for towards LGBTQ people could manifest towards Black Americans in the form of Jim Crow laws.
On air, Sidner asked CNN correspondents, "What is your reaction to this and what the fallout may well be? A lot of people worrying about things like Jim Crow. Could somebody decide that they want Black folks to come in the back door because they don’t want them in their store? I mean, how far might this go?"
During an MSNBC broadcast covering that ruling, NYU professor Melissa Murray declared that the Supreme Court is "drunk on its own power." She added, "It’s a 6-3 conservative supermajority, and they’re basically doing what they want."
Murray also complained that the court "nonetheless issued this broad and breathtaking ruling that will dramatically change public life for millions of couples."
Sarah Kate Ellis, president of LGBTQ media advocacy organization GLAAD slammed the decision while she was on with MSNBC, saying, "I think this is license to discriminate at the highest court. I think this is a pattern we've been seeing with the Supreme Court where they're taking away rights instead of broadening rights for marginalized communities."
In another segment of her appearance, Ellis also proclaimed that the court is "not reflecting the views of the country, of where this country wants to go." She added, "They’re pulling us back into the old stone ages as opposed to progressing us forward."
A CNN.com article penned by reporters Ariane de Vogue and Devan Cole argued that the decision will induce anxiety in those worried about the safety of the court’s previous decision in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage.
The authors wrote, "The ruling – rooted in free speech grounds – will pierce state public accommodation laws for those businesses who sell so-called "expressive" goods. It is the latest victory for religious conservatives at the high court and will alarm critics who fear the current court is setting its sights on overturning the 2015 marriage case."
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On Twitter the reaction was as hyperbolic. MSNBC contributor Dean Obeidallah argued that the SCOTUS decision in the web designer’s case empowered "right wing bigots." He tweeted, "GOP Supreme Court celebrates Pride month by empowering right wing bigots to refuse service to the LGBTQ community."
MSNBC host Chris Hayes lost it over the court’s ruling against the student loan handout Friday, tweeting, "godd----- this truly truly sucks."
In another post, the host condemned the multiple conservative rulings decided by the court along with the loan decision. He wrote, "Lots of very bad things this 6-3 majority has done, (Dobbs being, imho, the worst), but them deciding you are now $10,000 poorer than you were yesterday is really a helluva thing.
Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin claimed the court's decision proves the institution is basically a pro-Trump outfit. She declared, "when the outcomes at the supreme court perfectly align with rightwing agenda the court is corrupt. it is not a court. it is acting like a MAGA political operator."
Hollywood actor and Twitter liberal George Takei railed against the web designer decision, tweeting, "I’m sorry. In America, your right to exercise your religion doesn’t give you a right to discriminate. If your business is open to the public, you don’t retain some license to discriminate based on religious belief. Religious bigotry is still bigotry. SCOTUS should be ashamed."
