In an appearance on ABC’s This Week, 2016 GOP presidential hopeful Ted Cruz said that he would “absolutely” filibuster any nominee that President Barack Obama attempts to appoint as a Supreme Court Justice, filling the seat of the recently deceased Justice Antonin Scalia.
Scalia was found dead at a resort in West Texas this past Saturday.
Prior to his appearance, Cruz tweeted:
Justice Scalia was an American hero. We owe it to him, & the Nation, for the Senate to ensure that the next President names his replacement.
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 13, 2016
Cruz became even more adamant about his position while speaking with This Week’s host, George Stephanopoulos.
“The Senate has not confirmed a nominee that was named in the final year, an election year, in 80 years. This is a lame duck president. And, by the way, the only reason Anthony Kennedy was nominated that late is that Democrats in the Senate had gone after and defeated two previous nominees, Robert Bork, which set a new standard for partisan attacks on a nominee, and Doug Ginsburg. So it was the Democrats that had dragged it out for many months to make it that late. And right now, the court is exquisitely balanced.”
Stephanopoulos asked if he would personally filibustering anyone that President Obama nominates to fill the vacant seat, Cruz could not answer fast enough.
“Absolutely. This should be a decision for the people, George. We’ve got an election. And, you know, Democrats — I cannot wait to stand on that stage with Hillary Clinton or with Bernie Sanders and take the case to the people, what vision of the Supreme Court do you want?”
According to Ted Cruz, if Democrats are out to get another seat in the Supreme Court, “they need to win this election.”
Video via NBC News:
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