Thursday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) pushed back against criticism from the GOP over President Joe Biden’s announcement that he would nominate a black woman to replace outgoing-U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
Durbin argued on CNN’s “New Day” that both former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump announced they would nominate a woman to the Supreme Court and noted the same people upset about Biden’s plan to nominate a black woman have never voted for a black nominee.
“I would like to remind … that it was President Ronald Reagan, a Republican, I believe, who announced that he was looking for a woman to serve on the Supreme Court — came up with a great name, Sandra Day O’Connor, who served with distinction. And it was a Republican President Donald Trump, who said he wanted a woman on the court to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” Durbin advised. “I didn’t hear the same criticism from the Republican side. Let’s face the reality here: We’ve had 115 Supreme Court justices in the history of the United States — 108 have been white men. I really think there is room for us to consider not only women but women of color to fill these vacancies.”
“We’ve had 25 women of color come before the Senate Judiciary Committee during the first year of the Biden administration, and some of the people who are speaking the loudest about not choosing a black woman have never voted for a black nominee,” he added. “And that’s just fact. I’m sorry to say, but it is the reality of this year, 2022, in American history. ”
Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent