Sen. Lee rips Democratic colleague for 'worst' criticism he's heard yet of Justice Amy Coney Barrett

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Sen. Lee on ACB’s nomination: Trump was able to pull off 'SCOTUS trifecta'

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, reacts to Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation vote on 'Fox & Friends.'

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., calling the judicial originalism "racist, sexist, homophobic and a fancy word for discrimination" is “patently irresponsible," said Sen. Mike Lee.

The term "originalism" refers to a judicial interpretation of the law based on a literal reading.

“Of all the irresponsible and inflammatory statements I’ve heard over the last few weeks, and I’ve heard some doozies, this might well be the worst,” Lee, R-Utah, told “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday.

“If you think about what he is really saying there, Sen. Markey has essentially said that our Constitution is racist. And [that] an effort to understand it, understand its words at the time they were written, is itself racist and bigoted. I can’t think of a statement that has a greater tendency to undermine the foundation of our constitutional republic. I hope, expect, and demand that Sen. Markey retract his statement. It is irresponsible; he can’t defend that," Lee said.

DEMOCRATS SAY REPUBLICANS WILL REGRET BARRETT CONFIRMATION, SLAM 'MANIPULATION' OF SUPREME COURT

Markey ripped the judicial philosophy espoused by Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as lawmakers prepared for her confirmation vote on Monday night.

“Originalism is racist. Originalism is sexist. Originalism is homophobic. Originalism is just a fancy word for discrimination,” Markey wrote on Twitter.

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Lee said that if Barrett’s confirmation is “making the heads of Democrats explode everywhere,” it is because they want the Supreme Court to be “institutions of social policy.”

“Look, for President Trump, this was the SCOTUS trifecta that he managed to pull off. In his first term alone, having put three justices on the U.S. Supreme Court," on Tuesday. "That doesn’t happen very often and I am glad that it did,” he said.

“I think he might well have saved the best for last. Justice Barrett is going to be terrific,” Lee added. 

“They don’t want the courts to be limited to judging institutions. They want them to be institutions of social change, of social policy, they want them to take debatable matters beyond debate and, so, that is why this isn’t satisfying to them,” Lee said.

Lee went on to say, “They want something much bigger, much grander than what the Constitution actually allows. Justice Barrett sees the elegant simplicity of the fact that you want judges to interpret the law based on what it says.”

Fox News' Thomas Barrabi contributed to this report.