CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin fears that Democrats are too “weak” to keep Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat empty long enough to oust President Trump from office.
Speaking on a panel with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, Jeffrey Toobin said that nobody should take seriously Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) vow to do anything and everything to block a Supreme Court nomination.
“Democrats are great about talking big, but we’ll see if he has the … if he and the other Democrats have the guts to do anything,” Toobin said. “If they retake control of the Senate, will they really add the two seats on the Supreme Court?”
“If they’re in control, why wouldn’t they?” asked Camerota.
“Because they’re weak, they’re wimps and they’re afraid,” he shot back. “We think about Bush v. Gore. In 2016, Al Gore said, ‘No street protests. This is just a legal process.'”
Even though far-left Democrats have been rioting in the street for the past few months and have vowed to riot if Republicans replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Toobin said that Democrats need to “learn” from Republicans.
“There is a difference to how Democrats and Republicans go about these fights and we’ll see if Democrats learn anything from Republicans here. Yes, it’s interesting that Chuck Schumer said nothing is off the table, but that’s not a commitment to do anything,” Toobin said.
CNN’s @JeffreyToobin calls Democrats “weak," “wimps," and "afraid” for not attacking Republicans more aggressively over SCOTUS; says party should encourage activists to engage in “street protests" pic.twitter.com/Mq6LiSsUPR
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 21, 2020
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has already said that the GOP stands ready to approve President Trump’s nominee before the election, arguing that the 2016 standard does not apply to 2020, given the circumstances.
“In the last midterm election before Justice Scalia’s death in 2016, Americans elected a Republican Senate majority because we pledged to check and balance the last days of a lame-duck president’s second term. We kept our promise. Since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite party president’s Supreme Court nominee in a presidential election year,” McConnell said on Friday shortly after honoring late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s life.
“By contrast, Americans reelected our majority in 2016 and expanded it in 2018 because we pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, particularly his outstanding appointments to the federal judiciary. Once again, we will keep our promises,” he continued. “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reportedly told Congressional Democrats on a call that “nothing is off the table” in stopping the Ginsburg’s replacement. Mitch McConnell warned on Monday of “dirty tricks” that might be up the Democrats’ sleeves.
“Already some of the same individuals who tried every conceivable dirty trick to obstruct Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh are lining up … to proclaim the third time will be the charm,” McConnell said on Monday. “The American people are about to witness an astonishing parade of misrepresentations about the past, misstatements about the present and more threats against our institutions from the same people, the same people who already have been saying for months … they want to pack the court.”