Fox News anchor Chris Wallace pressed Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) on this week’s broadcast of “Fox News Sunday” on whether there was “hypocrisy” between the Cotton’s 2016 comments to avoid a Supreme Court justice confirmation during a presidential election year and his current call to move forward with a nomination after Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death.
In a clip from the Senate floor in 2016, Cotton said, “Why would we squelch the voice of the people? Why would we deny the voters to weigh in on the makeup of the Supreme Court?”
Wallace said, “You really don’t think there is any hypocrisy at all in saying we need to give voters… You stated a pretty firm principle in 2016 about Merrick Garland. It’s wrong to deny voters a chance to weigh in. You don’t see any hypocrisy between that position then and this position now?”
Cotton said, “Chris, the Senate majority is performing our constitutional duty and fulfilling the mandate that the voters gave us in 2016 and especially in 2018.”
Wallace pushed Cotton, asking if he would “still think it would be proper” for the Senate to confirm a Trump nominee to the court if Joe Biden wins the presidency and the Democrats take the majority in the Senate.
Cotton said, “Chris, as I said, we are going to move forward without delay, and there will be a vote on this nominee. But to the point, Donald Trump’s going to win reelection, and I believe Senate Republicans will win our majority back because the American people know that Donald Trump is going to put nominees up for the federal courts who will apply the law, not make the law.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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