Former Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that he has not released his list of Supreme Court Justices yet because potential nominees would be “subject to intense criticism for a long time.”
The 2020 presidential candidate discussed President Donald Trump’s pending announcement of his Supreme Court justice nominee to replace former Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday at the age of 87 due to complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer.
News that Trump will announce his decision this weekend has not changed when Biden will announce his SCOTUS list, Biden said in an interview with the Wisconsin TV station WBAY. (RELATED: ‘Disgusting Attacks On Her Faith’ — Sasse Condemns ‘Anti-Catholic Bigotry’ Against Amy Coney Barrett)
“If I were to do that, I find myself in a position where they would be subject to intense criticism for a long time,” Biden said, the outlet reported, saying that if Republicans “screw up the courage” to put off filling the Supreme Court vacancy until after the election, Biden’s SCOTUS list would not get a hearing until the spring.
“It’s just not appropriate to put them in that spot,” he added. (RELATED: Joe Biden Changes His Tune On Packing The Supreme Court)
In the same interview, Biden also declined to say whether he would support adding seats to the Supreme Court.
“It’s a legitimate question, but let me tell you why I’m not going to answer that question,” Biden said. “It will shift the focus, that’s what [Trump] wants.”
Joe Biden Changes His Tune On Packing The Supreme Court https://t.co/nNd8OsESLM
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 22, 2020
“Let’s say I answer,” said Biden, “then the whole debate’s gonna be about what Biden said or didn’t say. Biden said he would or wouldn’t. The discussion should be about why [Trump] is moving in a direction that is totally inconsistent with what the founders wanted.”
“It is a fundamental breach of constitutional principle. It must stay on that and it shouldn’t happen,” Biden told WBAY.
Trump is currently considering federal judges Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa to replace Ginsburg, Fox News reported.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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