Twitter users invoke Merrick Garland after McConnell, Graham comments on impeachment trial

Twitter users on Thursday invoked the blocked Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland to criticize Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) over their handling of the impending Senate impeachment trial.

McConnell and Graham have both criticized House Democrats for their Wednesday night vote to impeach President Trump on two articles: obstruction of Congress and abuse of power.

McConnell railed against the vote during a speech on the Senate floor on Thursday, calling it a “slapdash process” fueled by “partisan rage” that created a “toxic new precedent that will echo well into the future.”

Graham went after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), accusing her of committing “Constitutional extortion” if she did not allow the Senate to promptly act on the House-approved articles of impeachment. 

Twitter users criticized the two senators and accused McConnell of hypocrisy, noting his stonewalling of Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 2016. Garland’s nomination by former President Obama was blocked in the GOP-controlled Senate by McConnell, who refused to hold a hearing until after the 2016 presidential election.

More than 37,000 tweets included Garland’s name, making it trend on the platform across the United States on Thursday.

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) wrote that senators who never gave Garland a vote “can’t find enough smelling salts and fainting couches when Pelosi plays a little hardball on an impeachment trial.”

The senators who never gave Merrick Garland a vote and who’ve been cranking through the confirmation of unqualified judges can’t find enough smelling salts and fainting couches when Pelosi plays a little hardball on an impeachment trial.

— Jim Himes (@jahimes) December 19, 2019

Actor George Takei of “Star Trek” fame, a noted Trump critic, wrote that Pelosi “may throw Mitch McConnell’s plan to fix the trial for Trump … we need payback for Merrick Garland, and I’m here for it.”

Nancy Pelosi may thwart Mitch McConnell’s plan to fix the trial for Trump. She’s considering withholding the Articles of Impeachment until the Senate sets forth fair trial rules—which she says she hasn’t yet seen.

We need payback for Merrick Garland, and I’m here for it.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) December 19, 2019

Screenwriter and television producer Robert Schooley wrote: “If there’s anything Republicans absolutely cannot abide it’s when Democrats have the audacity to fight back. Merrick Garland says, ‘Hi,’ Lindsay.”

If there’s anything Republicans absolutely cannot abide it’s when Democrats have the audacity to fight back. Merrick Garland says, “Hi,” Lindsay. https://t.co/3vPCioSKSt

— Schooley (@Rschooley) December 19, 2019

Thousands of others took to Twitter to mention Garland, who currently serves as the chief judge on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

*Merrick Garland stares at the steam rising from his coffee for a long time* https://t.co/qXgrHIzz0I

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) December 19, 2019

Someone, remind @senatemajldr that at start of @BarackObama admin he promised to do all he could to stop Obama’s re election&he DENIED Merrick Garland a hearing for SCOTUS,as he now excoriates Dems for their partisanship.Extreme Partisanship is bad but his hypocrisy is worse

— Harold Ford, Jr. (@HaroldFordJr) December 19, 2019

Mitch McConnell explaining how he gave a fair hearing to Merrick Garland: “One of my proudest moments was when I looked at Barack Obama in the eye, and I said, ‘Mr. President, you will not fill this Supreme Court vacancy.’”pic.twitter.com/rwEp0Yb1nC

— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) December 19, 2019

Oh. You mean like holding up the nomination of a Supreme court judge for 293 days?

*cough* Merrick Garland *cough*

Sorry. I had something stuck in my throat there. It must have been the taste of hypocrisy. https://t.co/qBsdyfSPTU

— Kaz Weida (@kazweida) December 19, 2019

Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached when the House voted almost entirely along party lines to approve the articles related to his Ukraine dealings. 

Moments after the historic vote, Pelosi declined to say when — or even if — Democrats would deliver the articles to the Senate over concerns that the GOP-controlled upper chamber will not conduct and impartial trial.

McConnell told reporters on Tuesday that he’s “not impartial about this at all.”