AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
- Joe Biden on Sunday made a plea to Senate Republicans to hold off on voting for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, and wait for the results of the November election.
- Biden said that Republicans should respect the will of American citizens, who have already started voting and returning ballots.
- “I urge the American people to keep voting and let your current senators know that you want to be heard before the vote on confirmation of a new justice,” he said.
- Biden has made healthcare a pillar of his argument against voting for Barrett’s nomination.
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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Sunday asked for the Senate to hold off on voting for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, and wait for the results of the November general election.
Biden, speaking from the Queen Theater in Wilmington, Delaware, appealed to Republican Senators in asking that they respect the will of the voters and allow them to participate in the process.
“If we’re going to call ourselves a democracy, their voices must be heard,” Biden said. “I urge the American people to keep voting and let your current senators know that you want to be heard before the vote on confirmation of a new justice. I urge every senator to take a step back from the brink.”
Biden’s comments came after days Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death set off a political fight among congressional lawmakers over Trump’s intention to nominate a replacement before the election.
Top Democrats suggested extraordinary action might be taken to block a nomination after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced that Trump’s nominee would receive a vote on the Senate floor, breaking with his previously described reasoning for blocking President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland in 2016.
Biden encouraged lawmakers to "take off the blinders of politics for just one critical moment and stand up for the Constitution that you swore to uphold."
He continued, saying that "Just because you have the power to do something doesn't absolve you of the responsibility to do right by the American people."
Biden reiterated that Trump should proceed with the Barrett nomination if he is reelected to a second term, but should withdraw Barrett's name if he loses the election.
When asked about possibly expanding the Supreme Court, Biden demurred, saying that he wasn't going to make that issue "the headline" of his comments and instead emphasized the importance of protections for Americans with preexisting conditions.
"I am focused on one thing — making sure that the American people understand that they're being cut out of this process that they're entitled to be a part of," he said. "The cutout is designed to take away the Affordable Care Act and your health care in the midst of a pandemic."
Biden was then asked what he hoped to accomplish at the first presidential debate on Tuesday.
"Just tell the truth," he said, before walking offstage.