“Democrats are saying drastic things right now,” Cotton said. “Democrats are threatening to riot in the streets, however, Democrats are already rioting in the streets. They were threatening to fill the court, they were already threatening to pack the court.
Cotton, named 10 days ago along with fellow Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri among Trump’s pool of Supreme Court candidates, offered no context or further explanation for the claim. But his assessment contrasted starkly with scenes in Washington on Saturday night, when thousands of people attended a peaceful candlelight vigil to celebrate the life of Ginsburg, a pioneering lawyer who died on Friday at the age of 87.
Cotton has a history of controversial statements, previously comparing Black Lives Matter protesters to Confederation and claiming slavery was “a necessary evil”. He also called on Trump to use troops against protests against police brutality and structural racism.
The overwhelming majority of these protests since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May have been peaceful. Some have turned violent, producing clashes between protesters and police, the National Guard and sometimes federal officers sent by the Trump administration.
Cotton also issued a warning to politicians opposed to a Senate vote to replace Ginsburg, which will come before the end of the year, according to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“Democratic senators can look at what happened in 2018 when four of their colleagues lost their re-election a month after voting against justice [Brett] Kavanaugh and whoever was re-elected, ”he said.
Cotton, however, overestimated the strength of the so-called “Kavanaugh’s revenge” in the 2018 midterm election. A New York Times analysis suggested that three of the Democrats were likely to have lost in any event anyway. Conservative states, and noted that five other Democrats in states won by Trump in 2016 were re-elected after voting against Kavanaugh.
Cotton, whose interest in the Supreme Court vacancy was effectively ended by Trump’s declaration that he would choose a woman, said the Senate would “move forward without delay” when the president’s choice is made.
Cruz delved deep into the history books and threw a plug for his own forthcoming Supreme Court book, as he defended the Republican Party against allegations of hypocrisy.
In the 2016 election year, after Barack Obama appointed Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court following the death of Antonin Scalia, the Republican majority in the Senate stuck for 10 months, until Trump was elected and seated Neil Gorsuch as his own choice. Trump’s candidate this year is promised a vote despite a 44-day general election.
“If you look at the story, if you really look at what the precedent is, it has happened 29 times,” the Texas senator said on ABC’s This Week, referring to the election year recess on the Supreme Court. .
“There is a big difference between whether the Senate is from the same party as the President or from a different party. When the Senate was of the same party as the President, of the 29 times, there are 19. Of these 19, the Senate has confirmed these candidates 17 times. So if the parties are the same, the Senate confirms the candidate.
“When the games are different, it has happened 10 times. Merrick Garland was one of them. Of those 10, the Senate only confirmed the nominees twice.
Cruz’s “precedent” argument is uncomfortable with Democratic critics, who point to the contrast of Republicans denying Garland even an audience while rushing Trump’s 2020 candidate at full speed.
But Cruz, who made sure to reference next month’s publication of his book One Vote Away: How One Supreme Court Seat Can Twice History, insisted he didn’t There was nothing partisan about it.
“It’s not just your party, my party,” he said. “It’s a question of checks and balances. For an appointment to the Supreme Court to proceed, you must have the President and the Senate.
In fact, the Senate and the White House don’t have to be owned by the same party for a candidate to be confirmed.
Anthony Kennedy, whose retirement paved the way for Kavanaugh, was appointed by Ronald Reagan, a Republican, and confirmed by a Democratic Senate. David Souter, who retired in 2009, was appointed by Republican George HW Bush and confirmed by a Democratic Senate.
The first President Bush also appointed Clarence Thomas, a current member of the court, who was confirmed by a Democratic Senate.
However, no candidate for a Democratic president has been confirmed by a Republican Senate since 1895.
“In this case,” Cruz insisted, “the American people have voted. They elected Donald Trump.
Trump won the presidency in 2016 at the Electoral College, after losing the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes.
Cruz also argued that a ninth judge should be seated in case the November election results in a contentious legal battle, similar to Bush versus Gore in 2000 that ended with the Republican being installed by the Supreme Court.
“We need a full court on Election Day, given the very high likelihood of legal action being taken in court,” said Cruz, who was on the Republican legal team in Florida in 2000.
“We need a supreme court that can give a definitive answer for the country.”
