White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany responded to CNN host Don Lemon’s call to “blow up the entire system” in the wake of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, calling it “the difference between Republicans and Democrats.”
“That’s the difference between Republicans and Democrats,” McEnany said Tuesday, referencing Lemon’s comment about “blowing up the system” Monday night. “We fight to protect the Constitution when Democrats say outright we’re going to blow up the entire system because we do not get our way.”
.@PressSec: “That’s the difference between Republicans and Democrats… We fight to protect the Constitution when Democrats say outright we’re going to blow up the entire system because we do not get our way.” pic.twitter.com/Y7jJ3Y9CHq
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 22, 2020
In addition to calling on Democrats to “blow up the entire system” if they take power in November, Lemon called for the elimination of the Electoral College and the stacking of the Supreme Court with liberal justices.
Don Lemon: “We’re gonna have to blow up the entire system.”
Chris Cuomo: “I don’t know about that.” pic.twitter.com/pGT9WZEv0q
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 22, 2020
Democrats have insisted that it is improper for Republicans to move forward confirming a replacement for Ginsburg, arguing that the decision should be made by the winner of the presidential election on Nov. 3.
“Let me be clear: The voters should pick a President, and that President should select a successor to Justice Ginsburg,” Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tweeted.
Let me be clear: The voters should pick a President, and that President should select a successor to Justice Ginsburg.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 19, 2020
Republicans have argued that President Trump is within his constitutional right, and historical precedent dictates he move forward with the process.
“Twenty-nine times there has been a vacancy in a presidential election year. Now, presidents have made nominations all 29 times. That’s what presidents do. If there’s a vacancy, they make a nomination,” Sen. Ted Cruz said earlier this week.
Ginsburg was asked during a 2016 interview with the New York Times whether the Republican-held Senate at the time had an obligation to hold hearings for President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in Obama’s final year, to which she answered, “That’s their job.”
“There’s nothing in the Constitution that says the president stops being president in his last year,” she added.
