Fred Guttenberg, the father of one of the children killed in the Parkland school shooting, approached Brett Kavanaugh during the lunch break of his confirmation hearing, put out his hand, and Kavanaugh refused to shake it.
Guttenberg tweeted:
Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended. Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg's dad. He pulled his hand back, turned his back to me and walked away. I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) September 4, 2018
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Video:
Just so there can be no doubt about the authenticity of Mr. Guttenberg’s statement, the moment was captured in a picture:
Fred Guttenberg, the father of Jamie Guttenberg who was killed in the shooting in Parkland, Fla., left, tries to shake hands with @realDonaldTrump's Supreme Court nom., Brett Kavanaugh, right, during a lunch break. Kavanaugh did not shake his hand. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) @ap pic.twitter.com/smcCGuLT6X
— Andrew Harnik (@andyharnik) September 4, 2018
Kavanaugh snubbed Guttenberg because, if confirmed, he will be in the pocket of the NRA. The Kavanaugh hearing has been a dumpster fire and a mocking of the confirmation process. Republicans are trying to jam through a far-right ideologue who was nominated by a criminal president without providing even a hint of pretense that this hearing is about vetting the man that Donald Trump wants to put on the Supreme Court.
If Brett Kavanaugh won’t shake the hand of a man who lost his daughter due to a mass shooting, how much do you think he cares about people who need health care, Roe v Wade, expanding the rights of the LGBTQ community, racial discrimination, and the unequal and unfair justice system?
Brett Kavanaugh wouldn’t shake the hand of Fred Guttenberg and tells the American people all they should need to know about how he will rule as a Supreme Court justice.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
