Rev. Al Sharpton, leftist activist and founder of the National Action Network, told reporters on a conference call Tuesday that Democrats should not meet with Judge Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“No Democrat should even meet with the judicial nominee Kavanaugh because no Republican would even meet with Garland,” Sharpton said, referring to President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace the late Antonin Scalia, Merrick Garland, in 2016:
No Dem should meet w/ Kavanaugh! The McConnell rule should apply, it cannot be used for Obama only.
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) July 10, 2018
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would not advance Garland’s nomination because of the pending presidential election, citing the right of the next president — Democrat or Republican — to select Scalia’s replacement.
“I think that the Democrats owe it to us to stall and really wait until after the election,” Sharpton said.
Sharpton also said on the call, which included representatives from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the NAACP, that Republicans have a “double standard” when it comes to seeking to block Merrick because it was an election year but want to confirm Kavanaugh ahead of the midterm elections.
The difference, however, is that Merrick’s nomination was made ahead of a presidential election, not a midterm election, given the executive branch and not the legislative branch has the authority to nominate a potential justice to the high court.
In fact, if the Democrats were able to earn back a majority in the Senate in the midterm elections, they would be in a position to reject any of Trump’s Supreme Court nominees going forward.
But Sharpton and the others framed their opposition to Kavanaugh as the threat he poses to the civil rights of Americans, specifically “rights” to abortion and contraceptives on demand, universal health care, gay marriage, and racial consideration for college admission.
Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee, said the Trump administration wants to “reverse and undermine civil rights across this country.”
Clarke also called for “carefully and cautiously” vetting Kavanaugh to determine if he is “capable” of doing the job, despite his lengthy judicial record, including his present post as a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
“We can stop and stall,” Sharpton said.
Follow @PennyStarrDC on Twitter.
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