staying the course
Only 23 percent of Americans say Biden should just consider Black female SCOTUS candidates, new poll finds
According to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll, 76 percent of Americans say President Biden should consider "all possible nominees" to fill retiring Justice Stephen Breyer's seat on the Supreme Court. Only 23 percent say Biden should consider only Black female candidates, as he pledged to do during the campaign, ABC News reported.
The poll surveyed 510 adults and has a margin of error of 4.9 percent.
Despite Americans' discomfort with Biden's decision, his administration is sticking to it. White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement Saturday that Biden's pledge to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court reflects "the best traditions of both parties and our nation," The Washington Post reported.
He pointed out that two Republican presidents, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, pledged to fill open SCOTUS seats with female justices and both followed through, appointing Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Amy Coney Barrett.
Bates was responding to comments Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) made Friday. According to CNN, Wicker said it was ironic to use "affirmative racial discrimination" to put a Black woman on the Supreme Court while the court is considering reversing its position on affirmative action policies.
The Supreme Court agreed on Jan. 24 to hear a pair of challenges to race-based college admissions policies. Arguments in the cases will likely be heard in the session beginning next October, with a decision expected by June 2023.
Wicker also said whoever Biden nominates would be the "beneficiary" of a racial "quota."