Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:46 pm
Sen. Susan Collins embarrassed herself by getting history wrong while criticizing Biden’s SCOTUS nomination process.
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Transcript via ABC’s This Week:
STEPHANOPOULOS: You say that it’s clumsy. But isn’t, as Senator Durbin pointed out, isn’t it exactly what Senator Reagan did when he said he would appoint a woman to the Supreme Court? Isn’t it exactly what President Trump did when he said he would appoint a woman to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
COLLINS: Actually, this isn’t exactly the same. I’ve looked at what was done in both cases. And what President Biden did was as a candidate, make this pledge. And that helped politicize the entire nomination process.
What President Reagan said is, as one of his Supreme Court justices, he would like to appoint a woman. And he appointed a highly qualified one in Sandra Day O’Connor.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Isn’t this process politicized no matter what you do?
I mean, look what happened after the death of justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Justice Barrett pushed through in record time — one of the reasons I suppose you voted against her.
Ronald Reagan Announced That He Would Nominate A Woman For The Supreme Court As A Candidate
Sen. Collins has her basic criticism wrong. Ronald Reagan did exactly what Biden did. As a presidential candidate, Reagan announced that he would nominate the first woman to serve on the Supreme Court in October 1980.
It appears that Collins is searching for a reason not to support Biden’s Supreme Court nominee. It doesn’t seem to matter if the reason is inaccurate, or the history is entirely wrong.
Since Reagan, presidential candidates sending signals about potential Supreme Court nominees is common, but Susan Collins is concerned because she wants to come up with a way to keep the Trumpers who put her back in office happy, even if it means embarrassing herself.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
