Samantha Bee takes a moderate whack at GOP Supreme Court obstruction, and a poke at Joe Biden

Sam Bee dissects GOP Supreme Court obstructionism — (Image credit: Full Frontal)

Ever since Justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly, Senate Republicans "have made it clear that they're going to hold the Supreme Court hostage like a Mexican housekeeper locking Richard Simmons up in the crawl space," Samantha Bee said on Monday's Full Frontal. President Obama "fulfilled his constitutional duty to troll the Republicans soooo hard" by naming a moderate nominee, Merrick Garland, that many of them had just lauded, Bee said, showing a clip of Fox News pundits freaking out over Obama's "trap." But Senate Republicans were ready with some trolling of their own.

Their first gambit was repeating "the Biden Rule" ad nauseam to justify their court-blocking. "Ah, yes, the Biden Rule that totally exists," Bee said. "What is the Biden Rule again?" After showing a brief clip of Biden saying something stupid, she rolled the video of him talking about judicial appointments — but she played all the relevant parts. "Oh, so Color Me Bad–era Biden said he'd support a moderate nominee from President Bush," Bee said. "That's so great! If that's the rule, let's get on with moderate Merrick's hearing — tick tock, you don't stop."

But Republicans had a backup catch-phrase: Lame-duck Obama. "He's not a lame duck — he's three trimesters away from lame-duckery," Bee protested. "A president's term is four years. You can't say only three of those are legitimate and the fourth is garbage — they're not Indiana Jones movies." Finally, she found one Republican senator, Jeff Flake (Ariz.), willing to consider confirming Garland, at least if Hillary Clinton wins. Bee took her poke at the vice president, and Flake: "Oh, dude! Did you just embarrass your party by blurting out the thing you're not supposed to say in public? Finally, someone following the actual Biden Rule!" Watch below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.