A Fox Nation host has been mocked online after she accused Democrats of leaking an alleged “first draft” of an opinion ruling overturning Roe v Wade as an “intimidation tactic”.
Tomi Lahren, who was speaking hours after Politico reported on the leaked draft late on Monday, also suggested Democrats and their supporters would stage an “insurrection” to block the 1973 ruling being repealed by the right-leaning Supreme Court.
“[This is] Absolutely an intimidation tactic and also a distraction tactic here,” said Lahren of the “first draft”, which appeared to be signed by conservative Justice Samuel Alito and described Roe as being “egregiously wrong from the start”.
“The only chance the Dems have in November is to rile everybody up, get people to the polls with these emotional, culture issues.,” said the Fox Nation host of the midterm elections. “I think we’re going to see summer 2020 reignited with protests and dare I say, an insurrection.”
On Twitter, her suggestion that Democrats were behind the leak was widely mocked. As were her comments about an “insurrection”.
“It’s always a projection,” wrote one Twitter user of the comments, in reference to Donald Trump supporters who stormed the US Capitol building on 6 January 2021.
“An ‘insurrection’ at the polls?,” asked another Twitter user, adding: “Isn’t that called an ‘election?’ “
Another wrote: “Voting is now insurrection but not actually invading the Halls of Congress to stop an election now.”
The comments from Lahren, which followed an earlier tweet in which she also claimed the Supreme Court “leak was intentional and an intimidation and distraction tactic,” have raised concerns among Democrats and campaigners that all American women could have their right to access abortion services removed.
Republicans including Marjorie Taylor Greene have, however, appeared to celebrate the expected ruling in favour of overturning Roe, which the congresswoman hailed on Monday night as a “victory for God”.
The Supreme Court, which is due to decide on Roe by July as part of a ruling on an Mississippi anti-abortion law, has not confirmed whether or not the leaked “first draft” is genuine, and has not commented publicly on the report.
A majority of Americans support keeping Roe and its protections in place, with a SSRS poll in January finding 69 per cent of respondents in favour of the law. As did Fox News, a conservative outlet, find 65 per cent of respondents in support of Roe in a poll last year.
Additional reporting by The Associated Press
