Hillary Clinton told the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg on Wednesday that if Democrats controlled the U.S. Senate, they would not push through a Supreme Court nominee before the election.
Appearing virtually at The Atlantic Festival, Clinton was told that Republicans argue if the Democrats were in their position as the majority, the Democrats would be advancing a nominee.
“Do you believe that to be true?” Goldberg asked. “If they had the power, they’d be trying to ram through their nominee?”
“You know, I don’t believe that,” Clinton responded with a straight face.
“The Democrats were so shocked, and understandably so, at the blatant abuse of the Senate rules and processes when they refused to help President Obama to appoint a replacement for Justice Scalia ten months before the next election,” she said.
“There is within the Democratic caucus in the Senate a real fear that all bets are off, that there is no rule of law, there is no due process, [and] there are no norms or principles governing anything anymore,” Clinton claimed.
She asserted with a straight face that Democrats would think about country before party or ideology.
“I think there would be a very significant discussion within the Democratic caucus as to whether it was good for the country to throw it into another partisan fight, you know, 40 days before such a consequential election,” she said.
Clinton insisted Democrats would not be “demonstrating the lust for power and domination that we have seen from [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell.”
In 2016, Clinton posted a statement on Twitter calling on the Senate to hold hearings for Judge Merrick Garland and vote on his appointment:
“It is the President’s Constitutional responsibility to nominate justices to the Supreme Court, with the advice and consent of the Senate,” she said at the time.
“President Obama has met his responsibility,” she said then.
“Now, it’s up to members of the Senate to meet their own, and perform the Constitutional duty they swore to undertake.”
Clinton called on the Senate to give Garland “a full and fair hearing followed by a vote.”
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays. Listen to segments on YouTube or download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Parler.