Former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday said Americans don't deserve to know whether or not he would attempt to pack the Supreme Court should he win the White House next month. He doubled down on that statement on Saturday when a reporter asked why he doesn't make his stance on the High Court known.
"The only court packing going on right now is going on with Republicans packing the court right now. It's not constitutional what they're doing. We need to focus on what's happening right now," Biden said before coughing. "The fact is the only packing going on is this court being packed by the Republicans after voting has already begun. I'm going to stay focused on it so we don’t take our eyes off the ball here."
Biden is again asked why voters don’t deserve to know his views on court packing. He responds: “The only court packing going on right now is going on with Republicans packing the court right now ... I’m going to stay focused on it so we don’t take our eyes off the ball here." pic.twitter.com/E9H5rIXMX2
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) October 10, 2020
What Biden said is absolutely false.
Republicans are not packing the Supreme Court by nominating – and potentially confirming – Judge Amy Coney Barrett. What they're doing is filling a Supreme Court vacancy that was left when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died.
The Supreme Court has traditionally been nine justices although the Congress has the power to change the number of justices that is on the court. Anytime they don't like something that's taking place, Democrats have threatened to widen the number of justices that the court has, essentially making the high court liberal-leaning.
It happened last year when the Supreme Court was contemplating hearing New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. New York City, a case that challenged the city's ban on gun owners from transporting their lawfully purchased firearms outside city limits. When the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association filed their lawsuit, gun control advocates in the state decided to remove the ban out of fear of losing in court. A handful of Democrats wrote an amicus curiae brief telling the Supreme Court not to take up the case because it's political in nature. The Democrats also threatened to pack the court with progressive justices if they move forward with the case. In response, 56 Republican Senators sent a letter to SCOTUS, telling them not to be intimidated by Democrats' empty-handed threats.
And guess what? We're back to Democrats wanting to pack the court if Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed because RBG isn't being replaced by another liberal justice.
Americans have a right to know whether or not Biden believes in this kind of vindictive behavior.