Joe Biden has once again refused to say whether he intends to pack the Supreme Court, telling us that we will find out “when the election is over.” Why? Because he doesn’t want to make headlines. And, of course, if he admits that he intends to pack the court, it will indeed be a news story:
Joe Biden AGAIN refuses to say whether he supports packing the Supreme Court.
“You’ll know my opinion on court packing when the election is over… The moment I answer that question, the headline in every one of your papers will be about that.”
Give me a break.
So bogus. pic.twitter.com/PQY80WEMyy
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 8, 2020
Can Biden possibly get away with this? I don’t know. We are far past the point where anything in this election season makes sense to me. But I do think this issue is a serious vulnerability for Biden. He knows that public opinion is strongly against court packing. He apparently is willing to brave the public relations storm if he wins and the Democrats take the Senate, because the prize of a left-wing Supreme Court is worth it. But he doesn’t want to take a hit with voters by acknowledging his intentions, when he likely won’t have the opportunity to pack the court even if he wins. So he weasels.
Still, I assume everyone interprets Biden’s refusal to answer questions about court packing as an admission that if he can do it, he will. That should hurt him with uncommitted voters, if there are any left.
