Protesters march large inflated duck outside of Sen. Jeff Flake’s Phoenix office
Apr 6, 2017, 4:56 PM
(KTAR Photo/Carter Nacke)
(KTAR Photo/Carter Nacke)
PHOENIX — If you were driving down Camelback Road on Thursday morning and spotted a large duck moving down the street, your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you.
A small group of protesters carried the yellow inflatable along the short stretch of road in front of Sen. Jeff Flake’s office to protest Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch.
Chants of "Stop ducking questions" at duck protest outside @JeffFlake's office @KTAR923 pic.twitter.com/yOIcxkmwQU
— Carter Nacke (@carternacke) April 6, 2017
The group said they were upset by Flake’s questioning of Gorsuch, which Flake did not appear to take seriously.
“He didn’t ask the serious questions that he should be asking and he kind of took it as a joke,” protest organizer Rodd McLeod said.
Flake’s questioning of Gorsuch turned a lot of heads. The oddest questions came from Flake’s family members who, in addition to asking if Gorsuch would rather fight one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses, were also curious as to where the nominee likes to go on vacation.
Flake later said he would choose to fight the duck.
“One big duck, of course. No question … little horses kind of freak me out,” Flake told KTAR’s Arizona’s Morning News late last month.
To be fair, Flake also asked a serious question about the Chevron Doctrine, which allows courts to defer to federal agencies when Congress passes a law that does not have a clear meaning, unless the agency’s interpretation is unreasonable.
However, the protesters said Gorsuch failed to answer the serious questions during his Senate hearings.
“Gorsuch ducked all the answers to the questions that all the senators asked him,” McLeod said. “He didn’t give honest answers. He didn’t talk about what he wants to accomplish on the court or how he would approach the judicial philosophy.”
The Democrats blocked Gorsuch’s nomination during the duck-wielding protest. The Senate voted shortly after to “go nuclear,” which eliminates the 60-vote filibuster for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch and future court picks.
“This will be the first, and last, partisan filibuster of a Supreme Court nominee,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) insisted. “This is the latest escalation in the left’s never-ending judicial war, the most audacious yet, and it cannot and will not stand.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
