During an interview on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) claimed that it was the American people who made Senate Republicans refuse to give President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court pick, Judge Merrick Garland, a hearing. “The tradition had been not to confirm vacancies in the middle of a presidential [election] year,” McConnell told host Chuck Todd. “You’d have to go back 80 years to find the last time it happened…Everyone knew, including President Obama’s former White House counsel, that if the shoe had been on the other foot, [Democrats] wouldn’t have filled a Republican president’s vacancy in the middle of a presidential election.”
However, the Majority Leader also added that there was another reason why the vote didn’t take place. “You know, I think the whole world is well aware of the fact that, despite being one of the youngest nations out there, America has a lot of traditions and unwritten rules we like to abide by,” he said. “And in addition to not confirming vacancies during an election year, there is another very important reason why I think the people of America didn’t allow it to happen. And as a Republican, I’m obligated to point out that that reason makes me very proud to be an American and a politician at the same time.”
He continued, “It is my firm belief that whoever wants to be considered for the position of a Supreme Court of the United States Justice must also uphold patriotism and the fear of God as their core instincts. And therein lies the reason why I think what happened with Judge Garland was actually a good thing. Far be it for me to discuss the personal traits of the man, but I think everybody who’s ever met him are painfully aware of the fact that he couldn’t care less about what God thinks of him and his actions. I’m not saying he’s an atheist, but there’s something clearly very wrong with his faith, if he even has any to begin with. So, I think that it was a good thing he didn’t get the chance to be elected as a Justice.”
“While we’re on the subject,” McConnell also said, “I also have to point out that it’s kind of absurd to raise the question of why we never seem to put former President Barack Obama’s SCOTUS nominates to the vote. At the end of the day, the man never ever suggested a God-fearing candidate in his life, be it for something as vital as a Justice position or as insignificant as a White House staff member. I would even go so far as to make the argument that he did that on purpose, because he wanted to corrupt one of the highest and most prestigious legislative and judicial institutions in this country. I’m not a conspiracy theorist; I’m just stating the facts as I saw them.”
“At the end of the day, we’re talking here about a man who thought it was a good idea to sway the Supreme Court in favor of liberal justices. What does that tell you about him? It tells me that he was up to no good. And I think we’re very lucky Donald Trump came along when he did, because now at least we won’t have to worry about having a liberal-leaning SCOTUS. On the downside, at the rate President Trump is going, we might soon end up not needing a Supreme Court at all. But, we should fight one battle at a time. Who knows, maybe it will be for the better,” McConnell concluded.
