"They completely ignore the fact that, at the time, I was speaking of the dangers of nominating an extreme candidate without proper Senate consultation," he said. "They completely neglected to quote my unequivocal bottom line, so let me set the record straight as they say: I said and I quote 'if the president consults and cooperates with the Senate or moderates his selections, then his nominees may enjoy my support as did Justice Kennedy and Justice Souter,' end of quote."
Biden told the group of law students at Georgetown University in Washington DC that, since there was no vacancy between Thomas' confirmation and the presidential election, he couldn't say what might have happened if a seat did open up. However, he added that his track record as the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee gave a pretty good hint as to what the outcome of a nomination would have been.
"I was responsible for eight justices and nine total nominees on the Supreme Court — more than, I hate to say this, anyone alive," he said. "Some I supported, a few I voted against. But in all that time, every nominee was greeted by committee members, every nominee got a committee hearing, every nominee got out of the committee even if they didn't have sufficient votes to pass within the committee."
He continued: "Every nominee, including Justice Kennedy in an election year, got an up-and-down vote. Not much of the time. Not most of the time, every single solitary time. To now hear all this talk about the Biden rule, it's frankly ridiculous. There is no Biden rule, it doesn't exist."
Joe Biden explains why Senate Republicans citing the 'Biden rule' is 'ridiculous'
Last edited: Sep 18, 2020