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

• Blackburn, a Senate Judiciary Committee member, is being mocked for misattributing a quote.
• The quote she used came from the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee. And she's getting roasted on Twitter for misattributing a quote to the Constitution.

The anti-abortion Tennessee Republican tweeted on Wednesday night, "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 questioned Supreme Court nominee Judge 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," the political commentator Cheri Jacobus tweeted.

Ari Cohn, a First Amendment and defamation lawyer, tagged Blackburn 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 Sari Beth Rosenberg, an educator who invited Blackburn to attend her class. She added, "Students learned this in the beginning of the school year."

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

—Jody Dean (@DFWJodyDean) March 24, 2022

When asked to respond, a Blackburn spokesperson pointed to a tweet that a reporter for Breitbart News, a far-right website, wrote, which called the Declaration of Independence "the promise" and the Constitution "the fulfillment." Blackburn responded to that tweet, saying, "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, whom Blackburn accused of supporting the "progressive indoctrination" of children.

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

At the end of her questioning on Wednesday night, Blackburn said "tough questions" were part of senators' due diligence, and she criticized Jackson for saying in her opening statement, "I interpret and apply 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 said, the judicial oath includes "under the Constitution."

—Eric Jotkoff (@Eric_Jotkoff) March 24, 2022