Rand Paul: 'We ought to impeach' Schumer for 'violent rhetoric' outside Supreme Court last year

GOP Sen. Rand Paul said that if Democrats decide to move forward with the impeachment of former President Donald Trump for his prior to the Capitol riot, then they should also look to impeach members of Congress such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for inciting violence in the past.

"I think if we are going to criminalize speech and somehow impeach everybody who says, 'Oh, go fight to hear your voices heard,' really we ought to impeach Chuck Schumer then," Paul told "Fox News Sunday" anchor Chris Wallace. "He went to the Supreme Court, stood in front of the Supreme Court, and said specifically, 'Hey [Justice Neil] Gorsuch, hey [Justice Brett] Kavanaugh, you've unleashed a whirlwind, and you're going to pay the price. You won't know what hit you if you continue with these awful decisions."

Paul noted that Schumer's rhetoric in the past has been comparable to that of Trump ahead of Jan. 6. 

"This inflammatory wording, this violent rhetoric of Chuck Schumer was so bad that the chief justice, who rarely says anything publicly, immediately said this kind of language is dangerous as a mob tried to invade the Supreme Court," Paul recalled. "So if people want to hold President Trump accountable for language, there has to be a consistent standard, and to my mind, it's a partisan farce because they're not doing anything to Chuck Schumer, not doing anything to Rep. [Ilhan] Omar, not doing anything to Maxine Waters. It's just not fair. It's just partisan politics under a different name."

In front of a crowd of supporters outside the Supreme Court  in March 2020, Schumer warned Justices Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, "You have released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”

Schumer later retracted his comments but received bipartisan condemnation and a rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts, which is a rare occurrence from the court.

"Justices know that criticism comes with the territory, but threatening statements of this sort from the highest levels of government are not only inappropriate, they are dangerous," Roberts said following Schumer's comments. "All Members of the Court will continue to do their job, without fear or favor, from whatever quarter."