Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. issued a rare public rebuke of a sitting U.S. senator Wednesday, asserting that Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, made a “threatening” and “dangerous” statement when he claimed President Donald Trump’s two appointees to the court would “pay the price” for certain rulings.

Roberts’s comments came hours after Schumer, on the steps of the Supreme Court, said Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch had “released the whirlwind, and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” The comments were made in front of a cheering crowd, as the justices, inside the court, were hearing arguments in a major abortion-rights case.