Sen. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) voiced his opposition Tuesday to President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh by saying that any senator who didn't oppose his confirmation is complicit in "evil."
Booker spoke at a press conference alongside Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and religious leaders to talk about their opposition to Kavanaugh, adding that the press conference had "nothing to do with politics."
"I’m here to call on folks to understand that in a moral moment, there is no 'neutral.' In a moral moment, there is no 'bystanders,'" Booker said. "You are either complicit in the evil, you are either contributing to the wrong, or you are fighting against it."
Booker then invoked a scriptural passage, from Psalm 23, saying, "Yea, though we [sic] walk through the valley of the shadow of death." He went on to say that the United States is currently walking through the valley of the shadow of death and that the Bible does not talk about people sitting or watching on the sidelines in the valley of the shadow of death.
"I am calling on everyone right now who understands what's at stake, who understands who Kavanaugh is," Booker said. "If someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. He has shown us who he is."
Warren echoed Booker's criticism of Kavanaugh, saying Democrats were on the "moral side of history" in regards to their opposition to Kavanaugh. She has previously criticized Kavanaugh, accusing him of being "hostile to health care for millions" and saying he was "handpicked" by right-wing billionaires.
Senate Republicans are currently planning to hold the vote for Kavanaugh's confirmation before the 2018 midterm elections. The Republicans control the Senate 51-49, but the vote may depend on Republicans and vulnerable Democrats in red states.
Ezra Levin, the co-founder of the Indivisible Project, a progressive group formed as a reaction to the election of Donald Trump, said earlier this month that Indivisible will fight to defeat Trump's Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh by forcing Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) to vote against him.
"I'm not saying we are guaranteed victory, but there is a path to victory. It is narrow and I think you're exactly right. It's going to be through Maine and Alaska and through keeping the entire Democratic caucus together," Levin said. "Literally today there were events by Indivisible groups in Maine and Alaska, let alone in places like Texas and California and all across from sea to shining sea. This is going to be won by constituent power."