Durbin: Republicans Have Been ‘Packing the Court for the Past Three and a Half Years, and They Brag About It’

‘We are dealing with people on the court, packing into the court, with little or no qualifications for a long time’

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EXCERPT:

CHUCK TODD: I want to play a quote for you from former Vice President Joe Biden on this issue of expanding the court. Let me play it for you and ask you about it on the other side.

[BEGIN TAPE]

JOE BIDEN: You’ll know my opinion on court packing when the election is over. Now, look, the moment I answer that question, the headline in every one of your papers will be about that, other than focusing on what’s happening now.

[END TAPE]

CHUCK TODD: Senator Durbin, did the fact that Vice President Biden used the phrase “court packing,” was that a tell of where the vice president stands on this? That he doesn’t want to see this happen?

SEN. DICK DURBIN: Well, I can tell you that we’re getting this question. It’s a common question being asked because the American people have watched the Republicans packing the court over the last three and a half years. And they brag about it. They’ve taken every vacancy and filled it. Did you know that they’ve sent to us — and we have approved only with their votes, I might add — ten people who have been judged unanimously unqualified by the American Bar Association? Do you know how many judicial nominees who came from Obama who were judged unanimously unqualified? None. So, we are dealing with people on the court, packed into the court, with little or no qualification, who are going to be there for a long time. So it’s understandable that Republicans raise the issue of court packing.

CHUCK TODD: Senator though, the lack of answering this question sounds like — as if the Democrats are trying to game the results here and just trying to see what happens. And in some ways, it may be that it comes across as a negotiating tool with trying to maybe convince a handful of Senate Republicans to delay these confirmation hearings. Is that what this is? Is this a negotiating ploy?

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