"The View" co-host Sunny Hostin said that a black woman would be "overqualified" for the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy if she is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School.
Hostin made the comments during a Friday broadcast of the show when responding to a deleted tweet from Cato Institute Vice President Ilya Shapiro, who called on President Joe Biden to nominate Indian-American Sri Srinivasan to the Supreme Court rather than a less qualified black woman.
"I'd like to make the note that if a black woman graduated from Harvard and graduated from Harvard Law School, even in spite of sort of the institutional racism, the systemic racism, that occurs in this country, that is just part of the very fabric of this country, she is probably overqualified for any of these positions," Hostin said. And that is just the truth of it."
She also said that it is a "positive thing" that, "because she is black," the new nominee would bring another perspective.
"What I don't like is I’m hearing people saying things like, 'Well it should be race neutral.' This country is not race-neutral." Hostin said. "And so the fact that she is representing a community that is vastly underrepresented in the federal judiciary, that cultural point of view is a positive. It's an addition. And it's important not to erase that."
This comes after Associate Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, 83, announced Wednesday that he is retiring at the end of the current term. He served nearly 30 years on the bench after being appointed by then-President Bill Clinton in 1994.
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Biden said during a Democratic primary debate in early 2020 that he would nominate a black woman to the court should a vacancy arise.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Wednesday affirmed Biden's plans to do just that during a press briefing.
And on Thursday, Biden himself declared that he would make history by nominating the first black woman to the Supreme Court and that he will announce his pick by the end of February.
"Our process is going to be rigorous," Biden said. "I will select the nominee worthy of Justice Breyer's legacy of excellence and decency. While I’ve been studying candidates' backgrounds and writings, I've made no decision except one."
"The person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity," he continued. "And that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. It's long overdue, in my opinion."
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