He's the Supreme Court's Anonymous "Nice Guy" Conservative. The Reality Is Way More Disturbing.

"Gorsuch would engage on any topic, but his favorite was abortion. According to his college freshman floormate Liz Pleshette, he was the guy who would argue that a pregnant 12-year-old who had been raped needed to carry the pregnancy to term, without any consideration for the reality of the situation, because "abortion is murder, Liz." There's a certain kind of guy who loves to debate abortion with liberal women, and Gorsuch fit the mold perfectly."

"When I spoke to her, Pleshette remembered that she would get upset from these interactions but he wouldn't. "Even if he was vehemently arguing with you, it was laced with such civility and tight manners and politeness that you could be fooled into thinking that this is someone who is coming to the venture with loads of respect," Pleshette told me."

"When President Donald Trump nominated Gorsuch to the high court in 2017, even my Slate colleagues were taken in by this nice-guy act. In an episode of our podcast Amicus produced right after Gorsuch's nomination, Mark Joseph Stern, Dahlia Lithwick, and Jeremy Stahl described him as a thoughtful jurist. All three agreed that Gorsuch was decidedly " not Lucifer," as some progressives had painted him."

"As Stern put it at the time: "I think he's a principled judge. I think he's very conservative, but I don't think he's a rank parti"

Gorsuch was portrayed as a college dorm “debate you” figure who avoided being ignored and pursued right-wing arguments using highly technical interpretations of rules. His favorite topic was abortion, and he allegedly argued that a raped 12-year-old should be required to carry the pregnancy to term because “abortion is murder,” without regard for circumstances. A former floormate said his arguments were delivered with civility, tight manners, and politeness, making him seem respectful even when he was vehement. After Trump nominated him to the Supreme Court in 2017, some observers initially described him as thoughtful and principled, not as a caricature of an extreme villain.

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