Biden leaves door open for expanding the Supreme Court during town hall

Democratic nominee Joe Biden pledged to clarify his position on packing the Supreme Court before Election Day in a town hall Thursday that put the former vice president in the hot seat over his past support for the 1994 crime bill and his comment that African-American voters “ain’t Black” if they vote for President Trump.

Biden — who has previously been against expanding the Supreme Court — has recently sidestepped questions about calls from some in his own party to pack the court in response to Republicans ramming through confirmation hearings for Trump’s latest nominee, federal appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett, before Election Day.

But Biden appeared to signal some openness to the concept when asked by moderator George Stephanopoulos his stance if the Senate moved on Barrett’s confirmation before the election, a vote they’re currently on track to take shortly before Halloween.

“I’m open to considering what happens from that point on,” Biden said.

Stephanopoulos pressed Biden on whether “voters have a right to know” the Democratic nominee’s stance before casting their ballots and asked if he’d come out with a “clear position before Election Day?”

“Yes,” Biden replied, “Depending on how they handle this.”

Biden was pushed on several past comments and portions of his lengthy political record in an ABC News town hall that competed directly against a Trump town hall on NBC News in lieu of the second presidential debate.

Biden said it was a “mistake” to vote for the 1994 crime bill — a part of his legacy that’s dogged him throughout his third presidential run — but defended prior comments that “more cops mean less crime” if “they’re involved in community policing, not jump squads.”

At one point, a young Black man asked Biden: “Besides ‘you ain’t Black,'” — a reference to a comment Biden made to radio host Charlamagne tha God — how could the former vice president convince Black voters to continue to participate “in a system that has failed to protect them?”

Biden responded by rattling off policies to expand academic and economic opportunities for people of color.

After his running mate, U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, said during the vice presidential debate last week that she would not take a vaccine if Trump told her to take it, Biden said he would take one that’s scientist-approved.

“If a body of scientists say this is what is ready to be done and it’s been tested and gone through the three phases, yes I would take it, I’d encourage people to take it,” Biden said.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/31bCjeE