It’s unclear whether she was quoting Joe Biden or was one of the advisors who planted the ridiculous notion in his head that nominating a Supreme Court justice this close to an election is somehow unconstitutional. Either way, Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield got a brief and pointed civics lesson yesterday for CNN’s Jake Tapper when she repeated the claim.
The argument, which Biden made on the tarmac in Arizona this past weekend, was that several million Americans have already cast early ballots and that their will won’t be represented in Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed as a member of the high court. But as noted here, there is nothing in the Constitution that prohibits the president from exercising his right under the Appointments Clause (Article II, section 2) to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court once votes in a national election have been cast.
Bedingfield attempted to argue the same point, but Tapper was having none of it. He even challenged her implied use of the word constitutional, saying, “That’s not what the word constitutional means. [It] doesn’t mean I like it or don’t like it. It means it’s according to the US Constitution.” Watch:
BRUTAL. Tapper takes Biden's deputy campaign manager to task on Biden's accusation that filling a judicial vacancy is 'unconstitutional'
"That's not what the word constitutional means. [It] doesn’t mean I like it or don’t like it. It means it’s according to the US Constitution." pic.twitter.com/8mYgmo9sit
— Abigail Marone ?? (@abigailmarone) October 11, 2020
Elsewhere on the same network, fellow anchor Wolf Blitzer slammed down Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal for attempting the same fatuous argument.
WATCH: You know it's bad when even Wolf Blitzer calls out the BS line that it's illegal or unconstitutional for Republicans to appoint Amy Coney Barrett.
Here, he hammers Dick Blumenthal. pic.twitter.com/NzEOqKZxrf
— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) October 11, 2020
Meantime, what was going on at CNN? Was yesterday Annual Truth Day — the one day of the year when the media are compelled to report facts instead of fake news? If so, the Associated Press didn’t get the memo. The wire service published a piece on Sunday in which they referred to court packing as a measure designed to “depoliticize” the court and asserted that only “critics” refer to the practice as “court packing.
With lightning speed, the Associated Press adopts Democrats' language on SCOTUS: adding members is now "depoliticizing" the court, only "critics" refer to it as "packing." pic.twitter.com/IBujBwmWE2
— Tom Bevan (@TomBevanRCP) October 11, 2020
As editor’s note has been appended to the article this morning, indicating that the “story has been edited to make clear that it is [Democratic Gov. Steve] Bullock’s opinion, rather than a fact, that adding justices to the Supreme Court would depoliticize the court.
