Instead of celebrating a hard-fought victory, Fox News host Chris Wallace is already asking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to make concessions on the next Supreme Court nominee Republicans might someday be entitled to.
Watch the full interview below:
Wallace began the interview Sunday with the Senate leader by playing a clip of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer kvetching about the GOP-led Senate’s decision two years ago to not confirm then-President Barack Hussein Obama’s replacement for deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Instead McConnell had left the seat open to let whoever won the presidential election choose Scalia’s successor. McConnell resents this, as evidenced by what he said on the Senate floor last Tuesday.
“No American should accept his admonishments about delay. He’s the master of delay … Compared to 10 months. Leaving the Scalia seat open. Who are we kidding?” he said, citing the GOP’s complaints about Democrat efforts to derail Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
McConnell rebutted this rhetoric Sunday by noting that, one, he had been following a long-established precedent by refusing to confirm Obama’s pick during an election year, and two, his refusal to not confirm wasn’t equivalent to the “search and destroy” campaign waged by the left.
“We didn’t attack Merrick Garland’s background and try to destroy him, we didn’t go on a search and destroy mission,” he said. “We simply followed the tradition in America which is that if you have a party of a different– a senate of a different party than the president you don’t fill a vacancy created in a presidential year. That went all the way back to 1888.”
This has been the most outrageous search and destroy mission to try and take down a fine man’s reputation. pic.twitter.com/hSx4lrR0b5
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) October 3, 2018
Instead of dropping the issue, Wallace then decided to become an advocate for left-wing talking points by haranguing McConnell about the mythical “Garland standard.”
“When you blocked Merrick Garland’s nomination from President Obama, you basically said that we don’t do this in a presidential election year, and that we wait until the election and then whoever the people choose, they get to pick the Supreme Court nominee,” he said.
His implication was that because the Senate majority leader had refused to confirm SCOTUS nominee Mererick Garland in 2016, he should abide by the same principle if a chance to confirm another SCOTUS pick appears in 2020. But would he?
McConnell replied by suggesting that, according to historical precedence, the decision of whether or not to confirm ultimately lies with the party in control of Congress.
“You have to go back to 1880 to find the last time a vacancy created in a presidential election year on the Supreme Court was confirmed by a Senate of a different party than the president,” he said.
Since Republicans controlled Congress in 2016, they had the right to not confirm Obama’s choice. And if they wind up still controlling Congress in 2020, they’ll have the right to confirm Trump’s choice.
This answer did not seem to please Wallace. Nor did it please liberals on social media, who lashed out with their usual dose of hysterical outrage:
A despicable human being. Corrupt beyond measure.
— L B I (@lelainei) October 7, 2018
Mitch is a hypocrite. He’d come up with some reason why they should get to go forward with one after denying it to Obama
— Kyle Katarn ???⚾️?? (@GraviticCrash) October 6, 2018
We all know he doesn’t care about fair rules, everything is about power and trying to force his way, not obtain consent and agreement. Kavanaugh is the encapsulation of that attitude.
— Chimera (@Coalminetweety) October 7, 2018
— Pajaritos (@pajaritorojo56) October 7, 2018
He didn’t stick with his standard of 2016 in the last two nominations, who would believe he would do it in 2020? I can guarantee you he won’t because he’s not going to be given the chance again. The voters will kick him to the curb and onto his turtle shell.
— Jason Hannigan #BoycottNRA ? (@CaptinMoonlite) October 7, 2018
Let’s just take that as a no. Let’s stop dancing around this, there are a different set of rules for Republicans.They can hold a SCOTUS seat for a year when a Democrat is President but fill it immediately when a republican occupies that office.We all know what they’re going to do
— will (@willishl) October 7, 2018
And what about McConnell’s comments after Justice Scalia’s death about preserving “balance” on the court? As usual, just more hypocritical hogwash from McConnell and now the Trump GOP!
— Michael Wilkes (@Michael20818399) October 7, 2018
#MitchMcConnellIsNotEquipped to win by playing fair. And so he cheats.
— Doppelganger (@ProfoundSustain) October 6, 2018
The claim by the last Twitter user that McConnell “cheats” is false. It’s long been noted that “elections have consequences.” If Democrats want to stop Trump from installing another SCOTUS justice, they must simply win elections. And they for whatever reason are unable to do that, then sorry, but that’s their fault — not the fault of Republicans like McConnell.
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Vivek@bizpacreview.com
V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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