Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls Supreme Court 'most corrupt in American history'

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the Supreme Court the “most corrupt in American history” in a video posted to X on Monday.

The video was posted on the two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson’s Women’s Health Organization. The decision overturned Roe v. Wade which guaranteed the right to an abortion. Ocasio-Cortez was speaking at a Biden-Harris campaign event focused on reproductive justice.

“Two years since six conservative justices topped Roe v. Wade, since our right to choose was taken from us, and pregnant women and people across the country have had their lives at risk. It’s been two years since our freedom over our bodies was seized by the most corrupt Supreme Court in American History,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

Ocasio-Cortez has previously warned of a “crisis of legitimacy” over the Court, according to The Guardian. And it’s not just her. In a September 2023 Gallup poll, Americans’ approval rating of the Supreme Court is only one percentage point away from the record low. Only 41% of Americans approve of the Supreme Court’s performance. That record low — 40% — was from September 2021, about the exact same Court.

READ MORE:‘Injustice’: Experts Condemn Supreme Court’s ‘Fundamentally Corrupt’ Trump Decision

The Court has had a number of recent scandals as well. Justice Samuel Alito said in May he wouldn’t recuse himself from cases about the 2020 election, even though his wife had raised an upside-down American flag three days before Biden’s inauguration. The upside-down flag, an international symbol for distress, is linked with the “stop the steal” movement that alleges Trump actually won the 2020 election. And this month, comments from a leaked audio recording saw many experts painting Alito as a “Christian nationalist.”

Chief Justice John Roberts has rejected requests from Senate Democrats to discuss whether Alito should be recused from election cases. Roberts said that justices themselves make the decision whether or not to recuse, not the Court — and that Roberts saw nothing about the flags posted at Alito’s homes that would require him to recuse himself.

Justice Clarence Thomas has always been controversial, from his initial hearings where he was accused of sexual harassment. Thomas has faced additional criticism recently over taking undeclared trips paid for by billionaire Harlan Crow.

The Supreme Court is expected to make a number of major decisions this week, including whether or not former President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution in cases alleging election interference.