Fox News personality Tomi Lahren suggested that President Joe Biden should not nominate a Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, saying Biden is simply trying to "placate" what she referred to as "the radical element" within the Democratic Party.
Almost as soon as news broke that Associate Justice Stephen Breyer would retire from his position on the nation's highest court, Lahren reiterated the Fox News consensus that Biden's promise to nominate a Black woman to the court is an indication of what conservative critics have claimed is a liberal obsession with identity politics.
You can hear what Lahren said in the video below.
Tomi Lahren complains about 'Black woman' Supreme Court pickyoutu.be
Lahren claimed that Biden is trying to appease a minority faction within the Democratic Party:
"We know that what Joe Biden does best is placate to the radical element and the radical progressive base of his party that he believes is the majority. I believe that they are actually the minority."
She went on to claim that nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court would backfire, given low opinions of Vice President Kamala Harris's performance:
"But I'm wondering the kind of justice that he would nominate. Now again, I'm sure it will be, as [Fox News pundit] Guy [Benson] said, a Black woman."
"You know, he's got a dedication to that. We saw how well that worked out with Kamala Harris but here's to hoping that he has a better choice in mind for this position."
During his campaign, then-candidate Biden promised that he would nominate a Black woman in the event of a Supreme Court vacancy, a decision that would reshape the court's liberal wing and highlight the lack of diversified voices on the nation's higher federal courts.
That promise is now front and center with Breyer's impending retirement, thanks to a short list of contenders that includes Ketanji Brown Jackson, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Leondra R. Kruger, who sits on the California Supreme Court.
While it's still early, a Supreme Court confirmation, which Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has signaled he would like to see take place in a matter of weeks, is widely viewed as a boon for Democrats concerned about midterm election year challenges following several high-profile policy failures resulting from obstruction from the Republican faction.
Lahren's remarks exposed her, and Fox News, to accusations of racism.
Progressives have long urged Breyer to retire to ensure that the vacancy occurs while the Democrats are in control of the Senate.
Despite these calls, Breyer did not indicate whether or not he would retire even as Democrats stressed that a vacancy would allow President Biden to nominate someone younger and perhaps bring more diversity to the court even if a Democratic appointment does not affect the ideological balance of the court.
Activists had also cited fears of a Republican victory in next year’s midterm elections and their wish to deny Republicans the opportunity to secure a 7-2 majority on the court.
Last year, the White House indicated that President Biden and his aides would not give in to those demands on the belief that pressuring Breyer to retire would backfire, possibly even pushing Breyer to remain in his position longer to prove he will not be swayed by political interference.
With Breyer's announcement that he will retire at the end of the current Supreme Court term, the left is breathing a collective sigh of relief.
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