Back in 2016, for example, Biden emphasized that as chairman or ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, he “would go forward with a confirmation process … even a few months before a presidential election, if the nominee were chosen with the advice, and not merely the consent, of the Senate, just as the Constitution requires.”
As you may recall from that time, it was Republican leaders who did not want to move forward with even considering an Obama nominee for the Supreme Court, and Biden was urging them to do so, citing constitutional requirements.
That same year, Obama indicated much the same when he stated unequivocally that when there is a vacancy on the SCOTUS, “the President is to nominate someone, the Senate is to consider that nomination.” Obama added that there “is no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off-years. That’s not in the Constitution text.”
“I’m going to do my job,” Obama added in a separate interview about the same issue, as the Senate at the time did not want to cooperate with his nomination. “I’m going to nominate somebody ... It’s not as if the Senate calendar is so full that we do not have time to get this done.”
If you remember, Obama actually tweeted about the issue as well, demanding that Senate leaders “do your job.” Obama’s tweet added that the Senate had one priority at the time, and that was to fill the Supreme Court vacancy as soon as it returned from recess.
And last but not least is failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who stated that any delay in the nomination process of a new Supreme Court justice is “dishonoring” to the Constitution.
Clinton issued her own statement following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia indicating that her “thoughts and prayers” were with Scalia’s family, but that “Republicans in the Senate and on the campaign trail who are calling for Justice Scalia’s seat to remain vacant dishonor the Constitution.”
“The Senate has a constitutional responsibility here that it cannot abdicate for partisan political reasons,” Clinton added, emphasizing the importance of filling vacant SCOTUS seats as soon as they become available.
Fast-forward to the year 2020 and each of these prominent Democrats: Biden, Obama and Clinton, are all saying the exact opposite of what they did back then now that President Trump is at the helm – and the far-left mainstream media is supporting their hypocritical about-face.
As the far-left squeals and whines about Ginsburg being replaced, seeking to set up effigies in her honor while keeping her seat vacant forever, the right, including Trump himself, is echoing back to the advice of these former Democrat leaders in forging a path towards a new nominee.
“We were put in this position of power and importance to make decisions for the people who so proudly elected us, the most important of which has long been considered to be the selection of the United States Supreme Court Justices,” Trump tweeted, thanking former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) for abolishing the requirement in 2013 that presidential appointees to the Supreme Court receive 60 votes for confirmation.
“We have this obligation, without delay!” Trump added.
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