The Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Amy Coney Barrett for the U.S. Supreme Court continued into their third day on Wednesday as lawmakers from both parties asked questions about her positions. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who four years ago insisted against filling a Supreme Court seat in an election year, opened proceedings by affirming Barrett as a pro-life conservative woman. He also shocked observers by referring to the “good old days of segregation.”  Senator Graham later claimed he was simply being sarcastic. Seeing the danger to reproductive rights if Barrett is confirmed to the court, more than 60 prosecutors and Attorneys General signed a pledge saying they will not prosecute abortion as a crime if Roe Vs. Wade is overturned. 

On Tuesday Senator Kamala Harris was among the Democrats who grilled Barrett on issues including abortion. Harris also asked Barrett about her position on the Affordable Care Act and asked if she remembered Trump repeatedly saying out loud that he wanted to overturn the law. Barrett claimed to have missed Trump’s vociferous promises to “repeal and replace Obamacare.”  Senator Masie Hirono also took Barrett to task about her use of the phrase “sexual preference” instead of “sexual orientation” when referring to the LGBTQ community. And, in response to a question by Senator Amy Klobuchar about whether she understood voter intimidation to be illegal, Barrett refused to give a straight answer. In a question from Republican Senator John Kennedy about climate change Barrett once more refused to take a position. Several commentators pointed out that her evasiveness mirrored Republican talking points on the issue of climate change. 

In other news, Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden will hold a town hall on Thursday hosted by ABC. The event is in lieu of the second presidential debate that was scheduled but that President Trump pulled out of because he did not want to participate in a virtual event. NBC has now agreed to offer Trump a platform where he can speak unchallenged and uncontested in a town hall that will take place at the same time as Biden’s ABC appearance. During his political rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania on Tuesday Trump continued to spew masses of misinformation and at one point asked suburban women to please like him because he helped keep their neighborhoods rich and white.