Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz blasted United States President Joe Biden for the Democrat's commitment to nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court, arguing that the decision was both illegal and racial discrimination of White people.
The GOP member is one of the most recent to join a host of Republicans who have expressed their disagreement with Biden's commitment. The Democrat's promise to have a Black woman on the Supreme Court is a history-making event.
Cruz Blasts Biden
Biden's promise was only made possible earlier this month after it was announced that Justice Stephen Breyer, a member of the Court's liberal wing, would step down at the end of his term. Cruz made his remarks during an interview on Sunday and argued that the U.S. president was being racially discriminatory to any potential nominee who was not a Black woman.
Cruz compared the nomination to a traditional job application process despite the nomination being solely at the discretion of the U.S. president. The Republican senator argued that Biden made 94% of Americans ineligible when he promised he would only be choosing African-American women, as per Independent.
South Carolina congressman and House whip James Clyburn were crucial in securing Biden's promise. The official supported the nomination of J Michelle Childs, a judge from his state who was also backed by Lindsey Graham, who is, similar to Cruz, an influential Republican on the Senate judiciary committee.
However, the Texas senator continued to claim that the Biden administration was discriminating against the majority of Americans. Furthermore, the host during Cruz's interview, Bill Hemmer, did not point out that in history, there have been instances of judges being chosen based on their identity.
According to The Guardian, former United States, President Donald Trump promised to choose a woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a promise that came to fruition after the liberal lion's death in September 2020. Cruz championed Amy Coney Barrett, a hardline Catholic conservative, who was Trump's nominee.
Black Woman in the Supreme Court
Biden first promised to appoint a Black woman Supreme Court justice in 2020 while on the campaign trail. And despite Cruz's criticism of the commitment, he said he would still consider the Democrat's nominee "on their record." He said he was confident that the Senate Judiciary Committee would have a vigorous process examining that nominee's record.
Cruz argued that Biden should have made his promise by saying he would be looking at a lot of people and their credentials, choosing the best one to nominate based on their experience and credibility. He said that if the nominee happened to be an African-American woman, then so be it.
Earlier this month, some reports showed Biden has allegedly narrowed down his choices to three candidates; Ketanji Brown Jackson, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge for the District of Columbia; Leondra Kruger, a California Supreme Court Justice; and Childs, a federal judge from South Carolina.
Many people believe that the top candidate right now is Jackson, who was nominated to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama, Business Insider reported.
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