Don’t lose hope, Harris urges voters
In swing state visit, she addresses court battle
Kamala Harris urged voters on Monday not to be discouraged by Republican efforts to fill a Supreme Court seat before the election.
“We will not give up, and we will not give in,” the Democratic vice presidential nominee said. “We will not let the infection that President Trump has injected into the presidency and into Congress, that has paralyzed our politics and pitted Americans against each other, spread to the United States Supreme Court.”
Her remarks, delivered in swingstate North Carolina, marked Harris’ most expansive yet on the vacant court seat that was held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg until her death earlier this month.
Beyond serving on the Democratic ticket, Harris will play a direct role in the confirmation battle as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee tasked with vetting the nominee.
Harris was noncommittal when asked by reporters if she planned to meet individually with President Donald Trump’s nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to begin hearings for Barrett on Oct. 12, about three weeks before Election Day. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Harris say the seat shouldn’t be filled until voters choose the next president. Harris noted voting is already underway in some states, including North Carolina.
Republicans say this fight is different than 2016, when they refused to hold hearings on then-president Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee nine months before the election, because the Senate and presidency are now held by the same party. But the Senate has never confirmed a justice to the high court so close to an election.
“You have the power and you can make it very clear, very soon how you feel about being cut out of this Supreme Court nomination process,” Harris said.
Harris avoided any personal attacks on Barrett and did not mention her Catholic faith, instead focusing on her past comments that Chief Justice John Roberts erred in a previous decision upholding the Affordable Care Act.