Pence Asks Harris About Court-Packing Stance. She Ignores Him, Brings Up Race Of Circuit Judges When Pressed.

 

During the vice presidential debate on Wednesday evening, Vice President Mike Pence asked Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) point-blank if she and Democratic nominee Joe Biden would support packing the Supreme Court as retaliation should Senate Republicans confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett in the lead-up to the election.

“You’ve refused to answer the question, Joe Biden has refused to answer the question, so I think the American people would really like to know,” said Pence. “If Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, are you and Joe Biden, if somehow you win this election, going to pack the Supreme Court to get your way?”

Harris—who notably told Politico only last year that she was in favor of an everything-is-on-the-table approach to the Supreme Court—ignored Pence’s offer to clarify her court-packing stance, and instead delivered a story about Abraham Lincoln not filling a vacancy to the Supreme Court shorty before an election. She then said that, since some voting has already started, the vacancy shouldn’t be filled.

Pence, responding quickly, observed that since some Americans are already voting in the election, Harris should provide a clear stance on the issue, adding: “You once again gave a non-answer. Joe Biden gave a non-answer. The American people deserve a straight answer, and if you haven’t figured it out yet, the straight answer is, they are going to pack the Supreme Court if they somehow win this election.”

Rather than take the opportunity to answer the question, Harris chastised the Trump administration for submitting “purely ideological” nominees for consideration, and then made a point about race while looking directly into the camera.

“Do you know that of the 50 people who President Trump appointed to the Court of Appeals for lifetime appointments, not one is black. This is what they’ve been doing. You wanna talk about packing a court? Let’s have that discussion,” said Harris.

After the moderator tried to change the discussion to the next topic, Pence offered a final parting thought about Harris’ answer: “I just want the record to reflect she never answered the question. [But] the American people—maybe the next debate, Joe Biden will answer the question—but I think the American people know the answer.”

As The Daily Wire previously reported, both members of the Democratic ticket have refused to say whether or not they support packing the Supreme Court. During an interview with a Pittsburgh Action News-4 reporter, Biden said he wouldn’t answer the court-packing question because it would play into Trump’s hands.

“I’m not going to play Trump’s game,” said Biden. “Right now, my entire focus is seeing to it that the American people get a chance—the election’s already started—[and] have their say on who the next Supreme Court justice is. That’s what I’m focused on.”

Notably, the local news reporter had just finished telling Biden that her viewers wanted to know his stance on packing the Supreme Court.


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