Former Vice President Joe Biden after facing criticism for declining to discuss his position on court packing in a new interview says he is "not a fan."
Biden spoke in an interview with WKRC-TV in Cincinnati on Monday and was asked about his position on increasing the size of the Supreme Court, which some Democrats have called for after President Trump announced he would replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Judge Amy Coney Barrett on the Supreme Court weeks before the 2020 election.
"I'm not a fan of court packing," Biden told WKRC. "But I don't want to get off on that whole issue. I want to keep focused. The president would love nothing better than to fight about whether or not I would, in fact, pack the court or not pack the court."
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While Biden still did not definitively rule out the idea, the answer was notable after the Democratic presidential nominee had declined to discuss his opinion on court packing on multiple occasions, including in the recent first presidential debate, dismissing the question as a distraction. Last week, Biden said he would state his opinion on court packing "when the election is over" because "the moment I answer that question, the headline in every one of your papers will be on the answer." Prior to Ginsburg's death, Biden had described court packing as a "bad idea" in 2019.
In the interview with WKRC, Biden said he wanted voters to focus on Republicans moving forward to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court shortly before the presidential election, saying, "That's the court packing the public should be focused on."
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