Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) stated that the two possible reasons for Republicans to hold up Merrick Garland’s nomination to the Supreme Court are “a fundamental attack on the legitimacy of the president,” which is based at least in part on race, or “an attack on the independence of the judiciary” on Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show.”
Kaine responded to a question on whether President Obama’s treatment by Republicans and conservatives is “about race” with “Rachel, there is an attack on his legitimacy, that I think is just fundamentally different than what’s come before. You can attack him on his policies. I have argued with the president over this unauthorized war, but look, they met to decide right when he was inaugurated, they they — their success was going to be trying to stop him from being reelected. You’ve seen a congressman shout ‘You lie!’ To him on the floor of Congress. You’ve seen people question whether he was born in the United States, question his faith, question his patriotism. as you recently pointed out, the president sent up a budget this year and neither budget committee, in either house…would even have a hearing to discuss the president’s submitted budget, which has never happened since the Budget Control Act was passed in 1974, and now they’re treating his Supreme Court nominee in a manner fundamentally different than they’ve treated any other presidents before.”
Kaine allowed that “There is another explanation.” Namely that Republicans are launching “an attack on the court itself. … I think it’s one of those two explanations. Either it’s a fundamental attack on the legitimacy of the president, or it’s an attack on the independence of the judiciary.”
(h/t Washington Free Beacon)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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