White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki failed to offer an explanation as to why a majority of Americans apparently disagree with President Joe Biden’s decision to limit his search for a new Supreme Court justice to Black women.
During a press conference on Monday, she was asked about a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll that found a majority, 76%, of Americans disagree with the president’s approach to finding a replacement for Justice Stephen Breyer.
The reporter asked, “What do you make of this, and why do you think a majority of Americans want the president to take a different approach here?”
“Well, again, what we can assure the American public of…he will choose and nominate someone who has impeccable credentials and is eminently qualified to serve as a Supreme Court justice,” Psaki responded.
She continued, “He did make a promise to the country. That’s certainly how he sees it…I would note that there’s a long history here, President Reagan promised the country he would nominate the country’s first woman to serve on the court, and he did so. Former President Trump also promised to choose a woman just over a year ago, and there was no such complaint from the voices on the right who are speaking out now.”
Watch the video below:
“What we can assure the American public of…he will choose and nominate someone who has impeccable credentials and is eminently qualified,” White House press sec. Jen Psaki says of new @ABC News/Ipsos poll on Pres. Biden's Supreme Court nomination. https://t.co/SZ7Rjb9Nmn pic.twitter.com/C0xoxVIwhN
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 31, 2022
Notice that Psaki did not address the question of why over three-quarters of Americans do not approve of Biden’s approach to his search for a nominee.
According to progressives, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — who said, “identity is just the starting step when we are discussing a Supreme Court justice” — Biden is taking the right approach.
But, conservatives argue that his search process is backward. Instead of assembling a pool of qualified candidates of different genders and races and then picking a Black woman, Biden has opened himself up to criticism that he made his decision based on race or gender.
The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board argues Biden’s 2020 campaign pledge to nominate a Black woman is “unfortunate because it elevates skin color over qualifications.”
And as The Bulwark’s Charlie Syke’s writes, “Think about it this way. In announcing that his pick would be constrained by racial/gender identity, Biden did indeed, tell a generation of young progressive jurists that they need not apply. No one who looks like Stephen Breyer, or William Brennan, or Laurence Tribe would be considered. But neither would Hispanics, including Hispanic women. No one who looks like Sonya Sotomayor will be considered.”
“Asians also need not apply. No Pakistani-Americans — men or women. No Native Americans. No black men — not even Barack Obama. Jews, probably not. Ditto for white women. No credential, no jurisprudence, no brilliant legal scholarship can override their racial identity. So no Elena Kagen,” he added.
And according to the ABC poll, it appears a majority of Americans, including Democrats, would prefer Biden focus on qualifications rather than limiting potential nominees based on immutable characteristics to fulfill a campaign pledge.
