Political Quotes

“I would like to start by giving a quick history lesson, and I will begin with just two numbers. These two numbers speak to how extraordinary it is that we are here today debating and voting on a nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. The first number is four. Four. That is how many Supreme Court vacancies have arisen after July 1 and before election day in a Presidential election year. Only four times in the history of this country has a Supreme Court vacancy arisen within 4 months of a Presidential election. The next number I think is very important to remember, and that number is zero. Zero. That is how many times these vacancies were filled. In fact, similar to this vacancy, President Lincoln had a Senate majority when a vacancy arose just weeks before election day in 1864. What did he do? He chose to wait. President Lincoln thought nominating a Justice so close to an election would delegitimize our institutions and harm the Republic that he was fighting so hard to preserve. That is the precedent that President Trump and Senate Republicans have disregarded as they quickly plotted to fill the seat just hours, if not minutes, after Justice Ginsburg's passing. In addition to breaking with this historical precedent, Republicans are also jamming through their nomination in the middle of a pandemic that is gripping our country.…”