Congressional Democrats have informed President Trump that no matter who he nominates to fill the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Supreme Court seat, the nomination will be illegitimate. They won't meet with Trump about it, and they won't give his nominee the time of day, accusing the president of playing politics 40 days out from the general election.
“This is an illegitimate nomination,” Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said. “I personally have no desire to pretend it’s acceptable.”
Democrats say they won't even meet w/President @realDonaldTrump's nominee -- before she is even chosen
— Elizabeth Harrington (@LizRNC) September 24, 2020
No conversation. No debate.
We win elections, follow through on our promises, and abide by the constitution
Dems try to delegitimize and intimidatehttps://t.co/4whqJ9lf4I
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who we know from experience does not back down from a SCOTUS fight, shot right back on Thursday and accused Democrats of a double standard.
"When we confirmed Justices Ginsburg and Breyer, I don’t recall angry mobs stalking Senators," McConnell noted on the Senate floor. "[With] Justice Sotomayor, I don’t recall weeks of character assassination. [With] Justice Kagan, I don’t recall the mainstream media declaring the death of democracy."
He took a shot at Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden too, who recently warned us that "women’s rights as it relates to everything from medical health care is going to be gone" if the Senate approves President Trump's nominee.
"Good luck deciphering what he’s trying to say," McConnell responded. "Perhaps the nation will soon watch this man in his late 70s condescend to explain women’s healthcare to one of the brilliant women whom President Trump indicates he is considering."
A few other judicial nominees have been savaged by left wing groups over the years as sexist, including John Paul Stevens and Anthony Kennedy. On neither of those occasions did the sky fall, McConnell noted. And those same liberal groups were in mourning when Kennedy announced his retirement in 2018.
"Year after year, decade after decade, the far left's playbook stays exactly same," the Senate leader said. "The nominee makes no difference. Every time in 45 years...that a Republican president has nominated someone to the Supreme Court, the exact same set of clenched horror stories are wheeled out of storage, dusted off and paraded past the American people."
Every person on President Trump's SCOTUS shortlist is a "legal all star" and should be treated as such, McConnell said.