Amy Coney Barrett: Judge's blank notepad goes viral, Sen. Whitehouse's presentation elicits memes

WASHINGTON – When Judge Amy Coney Barrett displayed that she was not using notes during Tuesday's Supreme Court confirmation hearing, the moment became just one of a few to go viral.

Conservatives applauded Barrett, calling her "THAT smart", but the moment also brought forth a wave of memes from both sides of the political aisle.

When Barrett cited various judges, cases, and laws as she discussed her career and how she would rule on the Supreme Court during the second day of her confirmation hearings, she did it all from memory.

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As Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, started to question Barrett, he asked her to hold up the notebook sitting in front of her, noting most senators had multiple books and notebooks to reference.

"Is there anything on it?" Cornyn asked as she held up a blank white notepad with blue lettering at the top.

"The letterhead says United States Senate," Barrett replied.

Cornyn told her, "that's impressive."

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The Republican Party of Kentucky tweeted a meme of Barrett holding up the note pad superimposed with "#FILLTHESEAT", saying they "couldn't believe what she wrote!"

Donald Trump Jr., son of the president, tweeted: "Unlike Joe Biden, Amy Coney Barrett doesn’t need notes or a teleprompter to remember her positions."

Senior Legal Adviser to the Trump Campaign Jenna Ellis posted the photo of Barrett holding up the blank notes, writing, "Judge Barrett’s policy agenda:"

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However, not everyone was impressed. The Lincoln Project, a political action committee led by Republicans working to defeat President Donald Trump and elect Democrat Joe Biden, tweeted, "Posting this image for no reason whatsoever."

Writer and transgender advocate Charlotte Clymer tweeted, "Amy Coney Barrett wants to be the replacement for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and I'm supposed to be impressed she didn't bring notes to the hearing? That's not impressive. That's concerning."

Comedian Kathy Griffing posted:

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Sierra Club, a grassroots environmental movement, photoshopped the words "Delay this until the inauguration" on the blank notepad.

One Twitter user superimposed a picture of MJ Hegar, the Democrat running for Cornyn's seat, onto the notepad:

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Barrett would not say when asked whether the Constitution gives the president the authority to unilaterally delay a general election, sidestepping the question from Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The Jewish Democratic Council of America tweeted, "This should not be a tough question to answer, especially if you've read the Constitution" and "Perhaps Amy Coney Barrett should be using some notes."

Other recent Supreme Court nominees, including Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, had notes during their hearings. Kavanaugh used a binder and multiple legal notepads throughout his vetting by the Senate Judiciary Committee and Gorsuch was photographed jotting down notes on a legal pad.

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Another moment that went viral during Tuesday's confirmation hearing was Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., using his time to give a presentation about concerns he has regarding the influence of “dark money,” or funds raised by organizations not required to disclose donors, leading up to Barrett’s nomination to the Court.

“Something is not right around the court. And dark money has a lot to do with it. Special interests have a lot to do with it," he said, outlining “schemes” in which donors picked judges, funded influence campaigns to support the judges, and then funded campaigns to “tell the judges what to do" on cases that are important to their agendas.

"The Republican party platform tells us to look at how they want judges to rule to reverse Roe, to reverse Obamacare cases, and to reverse Obergefell and take away gay marriage. That is their stated objective and plan,” he said, flipping through various poster-boards. “Why not take them at their word?"

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The Senate Republican Communications Center tweeted this photo of Whitehouse next to an infamous scene from "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia":

"Senator Whitehouse brought the receipts," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., tweeted.

Charlie Kirk, the founder of conservative student group Turning Point USA, posted, "Sheldon Whitehouse needs 50 foam boards to try and make a single point and Amy Coney Barrett is working through a 10-hour long confirmation hearing without a single note or sheet of paper."

Contributing: Nicholas Wu, Ledyard King, Christal Hayes

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Confirmation hearing's viral moments: Amy Coney Barrett's blan and Sen. Whitehouse's presentation