Amy Coney Barrett withstood hours of questioning Tuesday with poise, civility, and at times, moments of humanity – countering the portrait of a right-wing extremist that Democrats have attempted to paint of President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, experts argued.
Jeffrey McCall, professor of communication at DePauw University, said Barrett's professional responses and pleasant demeanor have undercut the narrative pushed by Democrats that she is threatening or radical.
"Judge Barrett has had a most impressive day," McCall told Fox News. "It is clear she is bright and sincere. Her poise and pleasant personality make her a natural for the television cameras, which will also make it increasingly difficult for her opponents on the committee to trash her without themselves coming off as uncivil."
Barrett, 48, responded to scholarly legal questions with ease and did so without hesitation. She didn’t bring any files to the hearing and at one point held up a blank pad of paper to reveal that she didn’t take any notes at all.
Through hours of answers, the even-keeled Barrett sought to reassure senators and the American public that she would dispatch justice fairly and independently and she’d come to each case without any political agenda.
AMY CONEY BARRETT ANSWERS QUESTIONS AT CONFIRMATION HEARING WITHOUT NOTES, HOLDS UP BLANK NOTEPAD
“Judges can’t just wake up one day and say, ‘I have an agenda. I like guns, I hate guns. I like abortion, I hate abortion,’ and walk in like a royal queen and impose their will on the world. You have to wait for cases and controversies, which is the language of the Constitution, to wind their way through the process,” Barrett said.
