Pence says protests outside of justices’ homes are ‘wrong’ and ‘an attempt to intimidate the court’

Former Vice President Mike Pence condemned protests outside the homes of Supreme Court justices, saying Wednesday that they are “wrong” and “an attempt to intimidate the court.”

In an interview with Fox News’s Martha MacCallum, Pence said, “These protests that are taking place outside the private homes of Supreme Court justices are wrong.”

“It is an attempt to intimidate the court. And it’s against federal law,” Pence told MacCallum. “And I think to have elected officials or any Americans hesitating to denounce that is irresponsible. And I have called on President Biden, called on his administration to speak out against these protests.”

“There is — there’s no place in America for attempting to use intimidation tactics to change the decisions of judges in our independent judiciary, and this situation is no different,” he added.

Pence made the remarks after MacCallum asked him about Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments to Fox News. The Minnesota Democrat said that she had participated in counterprotests in front of abortion clinics “when the right has come to attack, to humiliate and to intimidate people who are exercising their own bodily autonomy.”

Pence said that Americans were now witnessing “the extremism of a pro-abortion movement” in the United States and said he hoped that the leaked Supreme Court draft ruling indicating the 1973 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade would be overturned would be the final outcome.

“But you’re going to continue to hear — in the days between now and when an opinion from the Supreme Court has issued — you’re going to continue to hear all of this rhetoric about denying women rights,” Pence said. “In fact, what we’re doing is empowering the American people to take control of a question of the sanctity of life in states across the country.”

The development comes as Republicans and some Democrats have criticized protesters for demonstrating outside the homes of three conservative justices in recent days. 

Though Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he supported the move, it was condemned by Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)