Democratic New York Rep. Mondaire Jones claimed Thursday that the United States Supreme Court had acted as “an accomplice” as the far-right waged “war with our democracy.”
Jones joined fellow Democrats, including Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey and New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, in a press conference defending legislation aimed at adding four new justices to the Supreme Court. (RELATED: ‘You’re Not Being Straight With Me’: Chris Wallace Challenges Chris Coons For Changing The Definition Of Court Packing)
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“I wish we did not have to stand here today, I wish we didn’t have a far-right Supreme Court majority that is hostile to democracy itself but here we are,” Jones began. “And the fact is, if we want to save our democracy, we must act before it is too late by restoring balance of the Supreme Court.”
Framing the push to pack the Supreme Court as the “greatest test since Jim Crow,” Jones went on to argue that Chief Justice John Roberts had led the court to “produce a government that does not look like, understand, or even pretend to represent the American people.”
“From the insurrection of the Capitol to the racist voter suppression all throughout the United States of America, the far right is at war with our democracy,” Jones added. “What I want people to understand is that this crisis did not arrive overnight, rather, the Supreme Court has been an accomplice. In fact, the Supreme Court, specifically the Roberts Court has been working to dismantle our democracy for years.”
Jones had referred to court expansion as “infrastructure” in a tweet shared hours before the press conference.
Supreme Court expansion is infrastructure.
— Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) April 15, 2021
Jones also released a political ad — using nearly the exact words from the Thursday press conference — in favor of packing the court.
Our democracy is in crisis.
If we’re going to save it, we must #ExpandTheCourt.
Today, our movement begins. pic.twitter.com/mti1ZG6Enf
— Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) April 15, 2021
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has already said she would not support the legislation Jones was calling for. Instead, she planned to back President Joe Biden’s commission studying the issue.
News: PELOSI says she does not support the bill to expand the supreme court, and won’t bring it to the floor.
says she supports the president’s commission.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) April 15, 2021