FreedomWorks to Joe Biden: You Can’t Walk Back Comments About Supreme Court Nominee in Election Year

Following a speech by Vice President Joe Biden at Georgetown Law Center, in which he attempted to distance himself from his June 1992 remarks urging then-President George H.W. Bush not to name a Supreme Court nominee in an election year, FreedomWorks CEO Adam Brandon commented:

“Joe Biden can’t walk back what he said in 1992, when he not only urged President Bush not to name a nominee but also suggested that the Senate Judiciary, then chaired by him, wouldn’t hold confirmation hearings if a nominee was named.”

“Biden’s comments and actions on federal court nominees are not limited to one speech in which he flatly rejected the notion of a Supreme Court nominee in an election year. He led the Judiciary Committee when the Democrats’ torpedoed the confirmation of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, and, later, tried to do the same with Clarence Thomas in what were disgraceful confirmation hearings. In 2005, Biden was one of the leading Democrats who tried to block several of President George W. Bush’s nominees to appellate courts.”

“Let’s not pretend that Biden is on his own. Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer have said that the Senate is under no constitutional obligation to confirm a nominee to the Supreme Court. Biden’s speech today was a pretty miserable attempt at damage control and the height of hypocrisy.”

In February, Brandon authored a blog post at RedState on Biden’s remarks and his history of politicizing Supreme Court nominees named by Republican presidents.

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