Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) are refusing to say whether or not they would support expanding the Supreme Court — commonly called court packing — and are insisting that the question is a distraction.
Over the weekend, Biden was asked if voters deserve to know his stance on court packing. He said, “No, they don’t deserve — I’m not gonna play [President Donald Trump’s] game.”
During a campaign event in Ohio, on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won’t tell the American people what they’re going to do.” He noted that both Biden and Harris refused to answer the question during the presidential and vice presidential debates.
“Last Friday, Joe Biden was asked if voters deserve to know if he plans to pack the court. And Joe Biden said, quote, no they don’t. Well, Joe, yes, they do. The American people deserve a straight answer. And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris need to come clean with the American people, and come clean right now,” he added.
Watch the video below:
VP Mike Pence: "Democrats and their Hollywood friends have already started to attack Judge Amy Coney Barrett's Christian faith." pic.twitter.com/QR9sP1rZp0
— The Hill (@thehill) October 12, 2020
He continued to suggest that Biden and Harris do not want to answer the question because they “want to pack the Supreme Court.”
Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield attempted to explain why the former vice president is resisting calls to answer whether he would support expanding the Supreme Court.
During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, she said, “This is a distraction that [Republicans] want to throw out … they are trying to create a distraction and send folks down a rabbit hole talking about this. When what we should be focused on, and what Joe Biden is focused on, is the vote on November 3rd and making sure that they don’t have the opportunity to ram through a nominee.”
When pressed on Biden’s previous opposition to court packing, Bedingfield stuck to her argument that Republicans are just trying to distract from the confirmation process of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Other Democrats have claimed that Republicans are the ones packing the courts. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said, “The American people have watched the Republicans packing the court over the last three and a half years.”
“And they brag about it. They’ve taken every vacancy and filled it,” he added.