Blumenthal says the only Supreme Court nominee he’d support right now is Merrick Garland, Obama’s pick in 2016; Trump slams Blumenthal in tweets
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who has taken a strong stance against the president’s Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett just weeks away from the election, said Sunday that there’s only one nomination he’d support right now: Judge Merrick Garland.
“We’re talking a very hypothetical; it’s not going to happen," Blumenthal said. But “would I support anyone? Yes, Merrick Garland.”
The answer, which Blumenthal clarified was “partly facetious,” is a reminder that Democrats remain angry at the snubbing of Garland, a federal appeals court judge, by Senate Republicans in 2016. In March of that year, during the home stretch of former President Barack Obama’s second term and eight months away from the next presidential election, Justice Antonin Scalia died and left a vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Obama nominated Garland to fill the seat, but the nomination was blocked by Senate Republicans who said the timeline was too tight to allow the sitting president to pick a new justice.
Senate Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, stalled until the nomination expired. Newly elected President Donald J. Trump was then able to fill the seat with his own pick.
“[Garland] should have received a hearing and a vote,” Blumenthal said Sunday.
And now, less than two weeks after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg left a vacancy on the court, Democrats are taking up a similar argument to the one Republicans made in 2016 — this time, on an even tighter deadline.
On Saturday, Trump nominated Barrett, a federal appeals court judge who is popular with conservatives, to fill the newly vacant Supreme Court seat. The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate is expected to confirm Barrett before the Nov. 3 presidential election. That plan has Democrats, including Blumenthal, calling foul, but with at least 51 votes supporting Barrett she appears certain to win confirmation.
Blumenthal explained his opposition in a lengthy Twitter thread on Saturday night, and on Sunday morning Trump hit back.
The president responded to another tweet that didn’t actually mention Blumenthal’s opposition to the nomination, but was part of a conversation about Blumenthal’s stated refusal to meet with Barrett after her nomination.
“Any Trump nominee, I would oppose because the American people should have a voice. And that means that this decision should be made after the election,” Blumenthal said. “It’s a sham, [a] rushed, illegitimate process that will produce a vote on the floor of the Senate literally days away from the election.”
In Trump’s tweet, he took aim at Blumenthal more generally and falsely claimed that Blumenthal has lied “hundreds of times a year” about his military service. On repeated occasions, Blumenthal has falsely claimed that he served in Vietnam. At other times he has been quoted accurately describing his military service, which did not include a stint in Vietnam.
Trump rounded out his Sunday morning tweet by calling Blumenthal “a senatorial JOKE!"
When asked about the tweet, Blumenthal said it wouldn’t distract him from his focus on the Supreme Court nomination.
“There he goes again, peddling the same lies,” Blumenthal said of Trump. “He hasn’t stopped me from speaking out, and he won’t now, because so much is at stake for the people of Connecticut.”
Emily Brindley can be reached at ebrindley@courant.com.
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