According to the left, Senator Lindsey Graham is flip flopping on his previous statements that he would not confirm a Supreme Court Justice in an election year.
Lindsey Graham had previously stated that if there were an opening on the Supreme Court in the run up to an election, that he would recommend that they wait to confirm a nominee until after the president is chosen.
Graham Fights Back
Senator Graham is arguing that his past statements are missing the broader context, as he was referring to situations similar to that of former President Obama‘s nomination of Merrick Garland. In that situation, the Senate was run by Republicans, while the president was a Democrat.
“If you look into the history of the country, there had not been an occasion where somebody was confirmed in a presidential election year after primary started when you had divided government,” Graham said in a statement earlier this year.
âWell, Merrick Garland was a different situation. You had the president of one party nominating, and you had the Senate in the hands of the other party. A situation where you’ve got them both would be different. I don’t want to speculate, but I think appointing judges is a high priority for me in 2020,â Graham said in an interview on âFull Court Press with Greta Van Susterenâ.
Graham has noted that this current vacancy on the Supreme Court, due to the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is different because both the Senate and White House are held by Republicans.
I stand by what I said in Jan. 2019: Harry Reid & Chuck Schumer changed Senate rules to try and stack the courts for Obama. Now it's coming back to haunt them as I predicted. I'm dead set on confirming @realDonaldTrumpâs nominee. If you stand with me: https://t.co/MYF6qgyjdI pic.twitter.com/lsejlSs0QQ
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) September 19, 2020
Senator Lindsey Graham sent a letter to his Democrat colleagues in the Senate about this issue, explaining the difference between the situation the country is in now, and the situation with former President Obama and Merrick Garland.
“When the American people elected a Republican Senate majority in 2012, Americans did so because we committed to checking and balancing the end of President Obama’s lame duck presidency. We did so. We followed the precedent that the Senate has followed for 140 years: since the 1880s, no Senate has confirmed an opposite-party president’s Supreme Court nominee during an election year,” Graham wrote.
In the letter, the senator also stated that his view has changed since he witnessed the treatment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh by the Democrats during the last Supreme Court nomination.
“After the treatment of Justice Kavanaugh I now have a different view of the judicial-confirmation process. Compare the treatment of Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh to that of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan, and it’s clear that there already is one set of rules for a Republican president and one set of rules for a Democrat president. I therefore think it is important that we proceed expeditiously to process any nomination made by President Trump to fill this vacancy. I am certain if the shoe were on the other foot, you would do the same,” Graham continued.
Chairman @LindseyGrahamSC to Committee Democrats: âAfter the Treatment of Justice Kavanaugh I Now Have a Different View of the Judicial-Confirmation Processâ https://t.co/qzXgSbgW8S pic.twitter.com/IWAclmrQED
— Senate Judiciary Republicans (@SenJudiciaryGOP) September 21, 2020