President Joe Biden went after Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) after racist comments alleging that a Black female justice couldn’t possibly be qualified to be on the Supreme Court, the Washington Post cited.
“The irony is that the Supreme Court is at the very same time hearing cases about this sort of affirmative racial discrimination while adding someone who is the beneficiary of this sort of quota,” said Wicker, who represents a state with a strong Black population in his state. “The majority of the court may be saying writ large that it’s unconstitutional. We’ll see how that irony works out, will probably not get a single Republican vote.”
Biden’s decision to nominate a Black female justice has triggered Republicans, and many have responded with the presumption that such a nominee couldn’t have the experience necessary. Instead, Biden is considering several highly qualified Black women with extensive experience.
Biden’s White House snapped at Wicker in a statement from spokesman Andrew Bates, who explained elevating a Black women to the Supreme Court “is in line with the best traditions of both parties and our nation.” He noted that President Reagan had pledged during his campaign to send the first woman to the court, saying that it “symbolized” the American ideal “that permits persons of any sex, age, or race, from every section and every walk of life to aspire and achieve in a manner never before even dreamed about in human history.”
As several activists pointed out this week, former President Ronald Reagan promised to put a woman on the court in 1980 and was heralded for the decision. Former President Donald Trump made the same promise after the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died.
“We hope Senator Wicker will give President Biden’s nominee the same consideration he gave to then-Judge Barrett,” Bates said.