Former Democratic presidential candidate and Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard blasted President Joe Biden over his promise to choose a Supreme Court nominee based on “skin and sex” rather than qualifications, noting his move to do so with Vice President Kamala Harris has been a “disaster.”
“Biden chose Harris as his VP because of the color of her skin and sex—not qualification. She’s been a disaster. Now he promises to choose Supreme Court nominee on the same criteria. Identity politics is destroying our country,” Gabbard tweeted on Monday.
Biden chose Harris as his VP because of the color of her skin and sex—not qualification. She's been a disaster. Now he promises to choose Supreme Court nominee on the same criteria. Identity politics is destroying our country.
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) January 31, 2022
On Saturday, Gabbard shared an earlier post that also referred to Biden’s plan to specifically nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court as “Biden’s mistake.”
“Biden’s mistake: He should not be choosing a Supreme Court justice based on the color of their skin or sex, but rather on their qualifications & commitment to uphold our Constitution & the freedoms guaranteed to all Americans in that document which is the foundation of our nation,” she wrote.
Biden’s mistake: He should not be choosing a Supreme Court justice based on the color of their skin or sex, but rather on their qualifications & commitment to uphold our Constitution & the freedoms guaranteed to all Americans in that document which is the foundation of our nation
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) January 29, 2022
The strong comments follow Biden’s announcement on Thursday following the report that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will retire after his current term.
“The person I nominate to replace Justice Breyer will be someone with extraordinary qualifications. Character, experience, and integrity,” Biden wrote.
“And they will be the first Black woman nominated to the United States Supreme Court,” he added.
The person I nominate to replace Justice Breyer will be someone with extraordinary qualifications. Character, experience, and integrity.
And they will be the first Black woman nominated to the United States Supreme Court.
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 27, 2022
“I will nominate a historic candidate who is worthy of Justice Breyer’s legacy — someone who will, like Justice Breyer, provide incredible service on the Supreme Court,” Biden added during his speech.
I will nominate a historic candidate who is worthy of Justice Breyer’s legacy — someone who will, like Justice Breyer, provide incredible service on the Supreme Court. pic.twitter.com/Jx6iT1fym1
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 27, 2022
The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh noted that Biden’s decision is most likely “completely illegal.”
“It’s actually completely illegal for a government official to specifically exclude certain races when hiring someone for a position,” Walsh tweeted. “It’s illegal in about ten different ways in fact. Not that any of that matters to Biden or the Left of course.”
It's actually completely illegal for a government official to specifically exclude certain races when hiring someone for a position. It's illegal in about ten different ways in fact. Not that any of that matters to Biden or the Left of course.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) January 26, 2022
The Daily Wire previously reported that George Washington University Professor Jonathan Turley wrote in 2020 that Biden’s campaign pledge — now presidential pledge — was discriminatory and entirely similar to outlawed affirmative action practices:
Imposing an absolute requirement that a nominee be a particular gender and race is effectively an affirmative action pledge. It is precisely what the Supreme Court already declared to be unconstitutional discrimination. In the 1977 case of Regents of the University of California versus Allan Bakke, the Supreme Court found quota and affirmative action admissions policies based on race to be unconstitutional. While the justices were fractured on the logic, a clear plurality on the bench supported the view that preferring “members of any one group for no reason other than race or ethnic origin is discrimination for its own sake,” adding “this the Constitution forbids.”
Gabbard’s jab at Harris as a “disaster” reflects the growing view of many Americans as Harris enters her second year as vice president.
A December Rasmussen Reports poll found that “Fifty-seven percent (57%) of voters now view the vice president unfavorably, including 50% who have a Very Unfavorable impression of her.”
A January Los Angeles Times survey of registered voters showed the vice president’s disapproval rating at 53%.
“Her approval rating is 10 points lower than that of her predecessor, Mike Pence, a year into the Trump Administration; and a startling 55 points lower than Dick Cheney’s approval ratings at the same point in the George W. Bush Administration, four months after the 9/11 terror attacks,” the New York Post observed.