Antonin Scalia’s son calls out ‘Mad Libs’ protests over Kavanaugh, says dad would have expected it

The son of late Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia said Sunday that his father would not have been surprised by the partisan turmoil surrounding the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.

What did he say?

"On a general level, he wouldn't be terribly surprised about the intensity surrounding this Supreme Court nomination, because so much of it comes down to Roe v. Wade — at least, that's how the left is presenting it," Christopher Scalia told Fox News.

He continued: "My father often said, with Roe v. Wade in particular but other cases as well, the court was really trying to come in and settle a cultural issue that should have been resolved in elections, and the legislative process. By trying to short-circuit that process, the Supreme Court caused more damage and, as a result, Supreme Court nominations and confirmation battles have become more heated, because justices have taken on the role that properly belongs to legislators."

Earlier this month, Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse made a similar point during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings.

He said Congress often delegates “excessive authority to mostly unaccountable executive branch agencies and improperly leaves the resulting bureaucratic uncertainties to the Supreme Court to resolve — effectively making the justices supplemental legislators doing a job abdicated by senators,” the report stated.

Scalia, a public relations professional, said it was apparent from the beginning that any appointment by President Donald Trump would be protested.

"It was pretty clear from the beginning," Scalia said. "Groups already had signs, basically fill-in-the-blank, they were doing Mad Libs protesting basically before President Trump nominated Kavanaugh specifically."

He was referring to protesters who attended who carried with protest signs with spaces for them to write in the nominee's name, on the night Kavanaugh was nominated in July.

Too angry to serve?

Scalia also addressed claims that Kavanaugh’s fiery and strong responses to the allegations has no impact on whether he is fit to serve. It is not uncommon for judges to get angry especially on hot-button issues, he said.

"It's really not all that rare for justices to get angry," Scalia said. "It's true that [judge] Kavanaugh was perhaps more aggressive, but that's because the circumstances were a lot different.

“He was defending his good name from uncorroborated accusations," he added.

The FBI is expected this week to conclude allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh.