Welcome to another edition of our daily US election newsletter, The Decider. I’m news.com.au’s reporter on all things American, Sam Clench, and each day I’m bringing you the highlights from the contest between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden. The fallout from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death continued today, with Democrats and Republicans squabbling in Congress and Mr Trump promising to nominate her replacement by the end of the week. Before we get to that, though, let’s deal with the President’s latest conspiracy theory. Speaking to Fox News, Mr Trump suggested Justice Ginsburg’s final wish had been faked by his political opponents. As you might recall, after Justice Ginsburg’s death on Friday, her granddaughter Clara Spera released her final statement to Americans: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.” Speaking to the network’s morning show Fox & Friends today, Mr Trump cast doubt on the veracity of that statement, theorising it was actually written by the Democrats. “I don’t know that she said that. Or was that written out by Adam Schiff and Schumer and Pelosi? I would be more inclined to the second,” Mr Trump said. “That came out of the wind. It sounds so beautiful. But that sounds like a Schumer deal, or maybe a Pelosi or Shifty Schiff. “Maybe she did and maybe she didn’t.” Chuck Schumer is the Senate Minority Leader. Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House. Mr Schiff is Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and prosecuted the case against Mr Trump during his impeachment trial earlier this year. So the President was essentially pointing the finger at his three biggest enemies in Congress. He was also, by implication, calling Ms Spera a liar, given she is the one who released Justice Ginsburg’s statement, saying her grandmother had dictated it. Moving on. Mr Schumer – one of those Democrats Mr Trump mentioned – went on a bit of a rant in the Senate today. He was annoyed at the Republicans, and particularly Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for moving to replace Justice Ginsburg so quickly when they refused to even hold a vote on Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, ahead of the 2016 election. “No amount of sophistry could change what McConnell said then, and it applies even more so now – so, so much closer we are to an election,” Mr Schumer argued. “Leader McConnell put the Senate on pause for over four months while COVID-19 devastated our country. But now he will move earth and heaven and ignore all principle and consistency to install a new Supreme Court Justice.” He said the Republicans had “made a mockery” of their position in 2016. Back then, a Supreme Court vacancy opened up in February, almost nine months before the election. Mr McConnell said the American people deserved to have their say before the Senate picked Justice Antonin Scalia’s replacement. Mr Trump won the election, and went on to fill the seat with conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch. Justice Ginsburg’s death has come less than two months before this year’s election. This time, there is no hesitation from the Republicans. “They seem ready to show the world their word is simply no good. It’s enough to make your head explode,” Mr Schumer said. “And then to hear Leader McConnell up on the floor trying to defend this – pathetic. Pathetic. “Why even bother constructing a pretence for your position? Why say it’s this rule or that rule and then do the exact opposite when it suits your interests? “Why not just come to the floor and say, ‘I’m going to do whatever is best for my political party.’ Consistency be damned, reason be damned, democracy be damned. Just admit it.” Mr McConnell brushed off the outrage during his own speech on the Senate floor. “No Senate has failed to confirm a nominee in the circumstances that face us right now,” Mr McConnell said. “The historical precedent is overwhelming, and it runs in one direction. If our Democratic colleagues want to claim they are outraged, they can only be outraged at the plain facts of American history.” His argument is that 2016 was different, because no nominee has ever been confirmed during an election year when the White House and Senate have been controlled by different parties. That isn’t strictly true – it happened once, when Ronald Reagan was president – but it is a rare occurrence. Mr McConnell also cited the 2018 midterm elections, in which the American people returned control of the House of Representatives to the Democrats but actually increased the Republicans’ Senate majority. “The American people strengthened this Senate majority to keep confirming this President’s impressive judicial nominees, who respect our Constitution and respect the proper role of a judge,” he said. Mr Trump, for his part, didn’t really really bother with such a granular argument during his interview on Fox News. “When you have the votes, you can sort of do what you want,” he said. |