Former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said Sunday that confirming Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett violates “the spirit of the Constitution.”
Buttigieg spoke with “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace about his support for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who claimed recently that Republican efforts to fill the Supreme Court seat vacated by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg were “unconstitutional.” (RELATED: ‘That’s Not What The Word Constitutional Means’: Jake Tapper Pushes Back On Biden Campaign Over SCOTUS Nomination)
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“Mayor, I certainly understand why Democrats are upset with the president rushing through this nomination, but it isn’t court packing, and it certainly is not unconstitutional,” Wallace began.
“I think what he’s saying is it’s not in the spirit of the Constitution or the spirit of our legal system or political system for them to do this,” Buttigieg said, going on to say that the American people deserved to have their voices heard before a nominee was confirmed, especially since so many had already cast a ballot for the 2020 presidential election.
Buttigieg then pivoted to claim that Republicans were only pushing Barrett’s confirmation in order to secure enough votes on the court to overturn the Affordable Care Act. (RELATED: Hot Mic Reportedly Catches Dianne Feinstein Comment About Amy Coney Barrett’s Religion)
“Let’s talk about the Supreme Court fight because Joe Biden has refused to say whether or not, if he is elected president he would actually pack the court, not rush through a vacancy which exists, which is purely constitutional, but pack the court by increasing the number of justices from nine,” Wallace pushed back, playing a clip of Biden promising to give a more complete answer on court packing before the election.
“Here’s what I don’t understand about that answer, mayor. As you point out, millions of Americans are already voting. I believe 22 million plus have already voted, so if Joe Biden wants them to know what he’s going to do on the court, shouldn’t he have told them weeks ago?” Wallace said, noting that Buttigieg had at least toyed with the notion of expanding the court, and asked whether he still would support such a move.
“My views haven’t changed. I think bipartisan reform with the purpose of reducing the politicization of the court is a really promising idea,” Buttigieg replied, pivoting to attack Republicans for attempting to change the subject. “Let’s also be clear that a president can’t just snap their fingers and do it and most of all, we don’t want to allow this president to change the subject, which is what they are always doing.”
“Is it changing the subject — if you are talking about the Supreme Court, isn’t the question of packing the court — which a lot of Democrats including you have talked about doing — and Vice President Biden refusing to answer that, that’s not changing the subject and don’t voters have a right to know before they vote — already too late for millions of them — where Joe Biden stands on that issue?” Wallace tried again.
Buttigieg again referred to the topic as an intentional distraction from the real issues, claiming that Republicans wanted to talk about “literally anything besides health care.”