Bill Clinton: 'Superficially hypocritical' for Trump and Republicans to push to fill Supreme Court vacancy
Former President Bill Clinton said Sunday it is "superficially hypocritical" for President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans to push to put a new justice on the Supreme Court before the November election.
Posted — Updated"Well, of course, it's superficially hypocritical call, isn't it? I mean, (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell wouldn't give President (Barack) Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, a hearing 10 months before the presidential election. And that meant we went a long time with eight judges on the court," Clinton told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."
"This is what they do. I think that, you know, both for Sen. McConnell and President Trump, their first value is power and they're trying to jam the courts with as many ideological judges as they can," Clinton added.
Both Trump and McConnell have said they want to quickly approve a new justice to fill the vacancy left by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday at the age of 87.
Ginsburg, a liberal icon, was appointed to the court in 1993 by Clinton.
Many conservatives see the vacancy as an opportunity to fortify their majority on the nation's highest court, as Republican and Democratic congressional leaders brace for a showdown over the timing and speed of the nomination process in Washington.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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