Booker: Amy Coney Barrett Should ‘Recuse Herself in Terms of Any Election Issues’

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) said on Sunday’s broadcast of NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he will press Judge Amy Coney Barrett as to if she will “recuse herself in terms of any election issues.”

Booker said, “Well, I think the Democrats and two Republicans are with the American people. First of all, the process is not legitimate, as Susan Collins herself said, fair is fair. They articulated a process under President Obama and doing another process under President Trump, and it’s not fair, wrong, and delegitimizes the court. We have people voting already, and the majority of the American people are with the Democrats and two Republicans who believe this should be waiting until after the election. Finally, you said it. Not only is the process illegitimate and should be called into question but unfortunately, what’s at stake here is stunning. I’m surprised, frankly, that you could keep a straight face. You know that this is about The Affordable Care Act. You know that this court and President Trump’s nominee has put up is that she will tear down the Affordable Care Act. She has written about that. This is part of his litmus test, and unfortunately, Americans are about to see a Supreme Court that’s going to turn against a law that has provided really basic protections that the majority of Americans really want. So this is about high stake, what’s at stake, the right to control your own body, organizing, the right to organize into a union, and it’s also about a process that undermines the legitimacy of the very court that is critical, especially right now during a pandemic.”

On if he will interview Judge Amy Coney Barrett, Booker said, “One of the things I’ll ask her is will she recuse herself in terms of any election issues that come before us? Because if she does not recuse herself, I fear that the court will be further delegitimized. In other words, President Trump has said I will not accept the result of the election unless I win. I will push it to the Supreme Court, and oh, by the way, during the election, I’m going to put somebody on the court, as well. So I hope to have a conversation with her. I’m blessed to be on the Judiciary Committee and have a good, informed dialogue back and forth. My larger hope is that the Republican Party realizes they’re undermining their legitimacy of the Supreme Court and that they stop what they’re doing and wait until the American public has spoken on the election.”

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