Barrett ‘Wept’ with Her Daughter After George Floyd Death

Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, told lawmakers on Tuesday that she “wept” with her family following the death of George Floyd earlier this year.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) asked Barrett what “impact” viral footage of a former Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck had on her as Democrats grilled the high court pick during a marathon hearing. {snip}

“As you might imagine, given that I have two Black children, that was very, very personal for my family,” Barrett responded.

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“I was there, and my 17-year-old daughter Vivian, who’s adopted from Haiti, all of this was erupting. It was very difficult for her. We wept together in my room. It was also difficult for my daughter Juliet, who’s 10. I had to try to explain some of this to them,” Barrett said.

“My children to this point in their lives have had the benefit of growing up in a cocoon where they have not yet experienced hatred or violence. And for Vivian, you know, to understand that there would be a risk to her brother or the sons she might have one day of that kind of brutality has been an ongoing conversation. It’s a difficult one for us like it is for Americans all over the country,” Barrett added.

Barrett and her husband, Jesse Barrett, have seven children, two of whom were adopted from Haiti.

{snip}…Durbin asked where the Supreme Court nominee believes the country is “when it comes to the issue of race.”

“I think it is an entirely uncontroversial and obvious statement, given as we just talked about the George Floyd video, that racism persists in our country,” Barrett said.

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