“I never believed them. I didn’t believe them. That’s why I voted against them,” the vice president said in an interview on Monday when Bash, pointing to Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch’s previous statements underscoring Roe v. Wade’s long-held precedent, asked Harris whether she believed the two justices intentionally misled the public and Congress during the confirmation process.
“It was clear to me when I was sitting in that chair as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, that they were … very likely to do what they just did. That was my perspective. That was my opinion. And that’s why I voted like I did.”
Harris, who was flying on Air Force Two from Washington to Illinois on Friday to unveil the administration’s latest strategy to improve maternal health in the US when the decision came down, said she was shocked by the ruling.
“This is not over,” she added, referring to how she sees the conservative court majority’s intentions on other existing rights.
“I think he just said the quiet part out loud,” Harris said about Thomas. “And I think that is why we all must really understand the significance of what just happened. This is profound. And the way that this decision has come down, has been so driven, I think, by the politics of the issue versus what should be the values that we place on freedom and liberty in our country.”
This story has been updated with more information.