Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn confused the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, and is getting called out for it

Blackburn, a Senate Judiciary Committee member, is being mocked for misquoting the Constitution.
The quote she used came from the Declaration of Independence.
"Passing a basic civics test should be required for anyone running for office," wrote one educator.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. And she is getting roasted on Twitter for misquoting the Constitution.

The anti-abortion Tennessee Republican posted a tweet Wednesday night saying: "The Constitution grants us rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – not abortions."

—Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 23, 2022

The tweet came after Blackburn had questioned Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson about abortion, among a host of other culture war issues, during her confirmation hearing.

But the words Blackburn used are in the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution. And people on Twitter noticed.

"That's the Declaration of Independence you bag of hair," Cheri Jacobus wrote.

First Amendment and defamation lawyer Ari Cohn tagged her on his earlier tweet: "Who thinks we should do a better job teaching basic civics?"

"Passing a basic civics test should be required for anyone running for office," tweeted educator Sari Beth Rosenberg who invited Blackburn to attend her class. "Students learned this in the beginning of the school year," Rosenberg wrote.

To Jody Dean, Blackburn's tweet was reminiscent of another social media misadventure by Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. "Marsha Blackburn's civics teacher apparently also taught Boebert immunology," he wrote.

—Jody Dean (@DFWJodyDean) March 24, 2022

Asked to respond, a Blackburn spokesperson pointed to a tweet that a reporter for the far-right website Breitbart News wrote in her defense, calling the Declaration of Independence "the promise" and the Constitution "the fulfillment." To which Blackburn responded, "Exactly."

—Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 24, 2022

Here's a refresher on the relevant quote from that July 4, 1776 document: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

Political culture wars on transgender athletes, critical race theory, abortion, and gun rights were the dominant theme of Blackburn's questioning of Jackson, who Blackburn accused of supporting "progressive indoctrination" of children.

Her approach to the hearings prompted "embarrassment" – Raw Story reported – from some Tennessee pastors with the Southern Christian coalition.

At the end of her questioning Wednesday night, Blackburn said "tough questions" were part of senators' due diligence process, and she criticized Jackson for saying in her opening statement that she applies the law "to the facts of the case before me, without fear or favor, consistent with my judicial oath."

Blackburn said: "I wish you had said 'consistent with the Constitution of the United States.'"

But as Eric Jotkoff notes, the judicial oath includes "under the Constitution."