Former Vice President Bill Clinton (D) on Sunday attempted to persuade Senate Republicans to "do the right thing" and wait until after the election to fill Ruth Bader Ginsburg's now-vacant seat on the Supreme Court. According to CNN's Jake Tapper, Democrats have threatened to pack the court if Republicans go through with the controversial move to vote on President Trump's nominee.
"Democrats are saying that if there is this vote, Republicans do push the Trump nominee through, that all options are on the table and they're even talking about potentially, if, obviously, Republicans lose the Senate and the White House and do not win back the House, if Democrats have control of everything, they're talking about adding justices to the Supreme Court. What do you think of that idea?" Tapper asked.
"The Constitution doesn't prescribe a fixed number of judges for the Supreme Court. The last time it was tried it didn't work out so well when Roosevelt was president, but I think, my view is first: I'm not in politics anymore so I'm going to let somebody else debate that," Clinton replied. "But, secondly, let's try and do this right now. We're really close to the election and let's remember the example Abraham Lincoln said and let's remember the commandments and the comments Mitch McConnell made."
According to the former president, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is being a "hypocrite" who doesn't "stick to his position."
"You can't keep a democracy if there is one set of rules for one group and another set for everybody else," Clinton explained.
Former President Bill Clinton: "You can't keep a democracy if there is one set of rules for one group and another set for everybody else” https://t.co/3lOt7ExL1s #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/03Njn4cM9R
— CNN (@CNN) September 20, 2020
So wait a minute. Why were Democrats okay with pushing through their nominee in 2016? They had no scruples about how close the election was. They didn't care enough to let the Americans decide who would win the election and appoint the next justice. Regardless, President Obama didn't have enough votes to push Judge Merrick Garland through. Republicans controlled the Senate and there was no way they were going to vote for Obama's pick. It would have been a waste of time to hold that vote. This time around Republicans (still) hold control of the Senate and – even without wishy washy senators like Murkowski, Collins and Romney – Trump is likely to get whoever he picks through to the High Court.