Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, labeled Biden’s process for choosing a Supreme Court justice nominee as “insulting” and “offensive” on the latest episode of “Verdict with Ted Cruz.”
“The fact that he’s willing to make a promise at the outset, that it must be a Black woman, I gotta say that’s offensive,” said Cruz. “Black women are what, 6% of the US population? He’s saying to 94% of Americans, ‘I don’t give a damn about you, you are ineligible.'”
Cruz called Biden’s process “an insult to Black women.” He explained, “If [Biden] came and said, ‘I’m gonna put the best jurist on the court and he looked at a number of people and he ended up nominating a Black woman, he could credibly say, ‘OK I’m nominating the person who’s most qualified.'”
However, Cruz said this is not the case.
“He’s not even pretending to say that…he’s saying, ‘If you’re a White guy, tough luck. If you’re a White woman, tough luck. You don’t qualify,'” the senator concluded.
Announcing his intention to nominate a black Supreme Court justice, Biden said, “While I’ve been studying candidates’ backgrounds and writings, I’ve made no decision except one: the person I will nominate will be someone of extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity, and that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court.”
Biden’s comments have been criticized by many other Republicans, as his comments suggest that potentially qualified Supreme Court nominees will be excluded from consideration based on race and gender.
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is set to retire at the end of the current term, allowing Biden the opportunity to nominate and confirm a new justice.
Biden’s nominee is not expected to shift the balance of power on the Supreme Court, which currently has six conservative justices and three liberal justices. Instead, Biden will likely be replacing a liberal justice with an even more liberal justice. However, with a 50-50 Senate, Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has warned that Biden “must not outsource this important decision to the radical left.”
Speculation that Kamala Harris may be considered as a potential nominee has also been rumored in the news since the announcement of Breyer’s retirement. Opining on this subject, Cruz stated, “I think there is a chance they nominate Kamala to the Court in part because they can’t stand her.” He added, “One of the virtues of naming her to the Court is they get to get her out of the White House.”
Regardless of whether Biden considers Harris as one of the potential nominees, it is clear that he remains committed to choosing a candidate based on their race and gender, rather than on their qualifications.
RSBN has reached out to Sen. Ted Cruz for comment.
