Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) defended President Joe Biden’s pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court breaking with some members of his party who criticized the move.
“I heard a couple of people say they thought it was inappropriate for the president to announce he was going to put an African American woman on the court. Honestly, I did not think that was inappropriate,” McConnell said at a Lexington Commerce event in Kentucky.
“President Reagan promised to put a woman on the Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor. President Trump promised to put a woman on the Supreme Court when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away, so I’m not complaining about that,” McConnell added.
McConnell’s comments come as several Republican senators criticized Biden for his announcement that he intended to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of retiring liberal justice Stephen Breyer.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Biden “politicize the entire nomination process” when he made the pledge on the campaign trail. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx) called the move “offensive.” Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) also criticized the move as well.
Wicker compared Biden’s pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court to affirmative action.
