Rush Flips, May Support Sotomayor
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Rush Limbaugh said he would back Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court if she handles the abortion question to his liking.
After calling Judge Sonia Sotomayor a “reverse racist” last week, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh said Wednesday that he may now possibly support President Barack Obama’s pick for the Supreme Court.
“I can see a possibility of supporting this nomination if I can be convinced that she does have a sensibility toward life in a legal sense,” Limbaugh said during his show.
In justifying his flip, Limbaugh pointed out that Sotomayor is Catholic and “doesn't have a clear record on abortion.”
Hinting that Sotomayor could possibly support overturning Roe v. Wade, Limbaugh said “whoa, it would be huge.”
“I don't know if it will ever happen,” Limbaugh said, before claiming that the “opportunity” of her support in overturning the landmark abortion case could be enough to get his backing.
Limbaugh was joined last week by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in calling Sotomayor is a “racist” for past statements suggesting that a “wise Latina woman” could come to a better decision than a white man.
But Gingrich also backtracked from the comment Wednesday, writing in Human Events that his initially reaction may have been “perhaps too strong and too direct.”
“The sentiment struck me as racist and I said so. Since then, some who want to have an open and honest consideration of Judge Sotomayor’s fitness to serve on the nation’s highest court have been critical of my word choice,” Gingrich wrote.
“With these critics who want to have an honest conversation, I agree,” he added. “The word ‘racist’ should not have been applied to Judge Sotomayor as a person, even if her words themselves are unacceptable (a fact which both President Obama and his Press Secretary, Robert Gibbs, have since admitted).”
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