Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his Democratic allies are insisting that the former vice president should not disclose whether or not he would support expanding the Supreme Court because the question is a “distraction.”
Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) told ABC News’ Jon Karl, “That’s a better question for me. I’m in Congress. It would take legislation from the United States Congress and the United States Senate to do it.”
“But I think that Joe Biden and Senator Harris are very clear, that it is a distraction. We should not be talking about a hypothetical court packing once this nominee is confirmed,” he continued.
Court packing typically refers to the idea of passing legislation to increase the number of Supreme Court justices.
Richmond continued to claim that “when we’re talking about packing, we’re talking about all the judges that [President Donald Trump] is packing on the court right now.”
He also hit Trump for appointing 50 circuit court judges, and not one nominee was Black.
“He packed the appellate court, the circuit court, with 50 judges. But I bet you he didn’t mention that to Black or brown people yesterday at his White House rally, that out of 50 circuit court judges, he couldn’t find one qualified black person to sit on the circuit court. So when you talk about court packing, that’s what they’re doing.”
“But to answer that question would be a distraction,” he added.
Watch the video below:
Biden still won’t say whether he supports court packing.
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 11, 2020
@jonkarl: “Does he support expanding the Supreme Court?”
Rep. Cedric Richmond: “Joe Biden and Sen. Harris are very clear that it is a distraction. We should not be talking about a hypothetical.” https://t.co/Hcs1jrZbE6 pic.twitter.com/Py3DhGVyZM
Karl returned to the issue of court packing and noted that Richmond said it was a better question for members of Congress. He asked, “You’re a member of Congress, we can ask you. You’re the co-chair of the campaign. Where do you stand on the issue of expanding the Supreme Court? Are you in favor of it?”
“Well, actually, I just want to spend my time now, one making sure Donald Trump loses. But, two, making sure we don’t confirm this judge,” Richmond responded.
When Karl noted that he did not answer the question, Richmond said, “It’s a legitimate question for you to ask. But it’s a distraction 22 days before the election.”
Biden has been reluctant to answer whether or not he would support legislation to expand the Supreme Court. Last week, he told reporters that “you’ll know my opinion on court-packing when the election is over.”