CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin shared harsh words for the Democratic Party as they push to keep the recently vacated Supreme Court seat unoccupied until after January’s inauguration.
Toobin, during a Monday morning appearance on New Day, argued that Democrats, who are the minority party in the upper chamber, are “wimps and they’re afraid.” He made the comments in response to a question about Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying, “Nothing is off the table next year.”
“Democrats are great about talking big, but we’ll see if he has the … if he and the other Democrats have the guts to do anything,” Toobin stated, referencing some reports that Democrats would consider expanding the size of the Supreme Court if a nominee brought by President Trump gets confirmed in the coming weeks. “If they retake control of the Senate, will they really add the two seats on the Supreme Court?”
“There is a difference to how Democrats and Republicans go about these fights, and we’ll see if Democrats learn anything from Republicans here. Yes, it’s interesting that Chuck Schumer said nothing is off the table, but that’s not a commitment to do anything,” he continued.
David Boies, who represented Al Gore in the Bush v. Gore case that decided the 2000 election, participated in the segment along with Toobin. He disagreed with Toobin’s assessment that the Democrats are “weak” and said a more apt term would be “cautious.”
Ginsburg, who had served on the court since 1993, died on Friday at the age of 87. The president said he will be nominating a woman to replace her later this week, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he will bring a nominee picked by Trump to the floor for a vote.
While the White House has signaled confidence that any nominee Trump chooses has the votes necessary for confirmation before Election Day, two GOP senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, said the upper chamber should wait until at least the November election to vote on filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court. If they defect, with the GOP having 53 seats in the upper chamber, that would mean only two more Republicans would need to defect to defeat the nomination as Vice President Mike Pence could vote to break a tie.
