President Joe Biden criticized the US Supreme Court and expressed concern that Trump could appoint more justices to the bench if re-elected president. That would be “one of the scariest parts” of a second Trump term, he said at a gala fundraiser in Los Angeles on Saturday (June 15) night.
Biden predicted that the “next president is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees”. If Trump is elected, “he’s going to appoint two more [justices] flying flags upside down,” Biden added, referring to a flag that flew upside down outside the home of Justice Samuel Alito.
Court ‘far out of step’
“This has never been a court that’s so far out of step,” Biden said.
Alito was not appointed by Trump, but the former president did nominate three other conservative justices to the bench who helped overturn Roe v. Wade in June 2022, revoking the constitutional right to an abortion.
Reproductive freedom is a central theme of Biden’s re-election campaign.
Biden also referred to Justice Clarence Thomas’ arguing that the court “should reconsider” its past rulings codifying contraception and same-sex rulings.
When an attendee shouted from the crowd about gay rights potentially coming under assault, Biden responded, “Not on my watch.”
Biden was speaking at a star-studded fundraiser where he had a conversation with former President Barack Obama. It was moderated by late night host Jimmy Kimmel. The Biden campaign said the event raised at least $28 million, the largest single-night haul for a Democratic candidate ever. The fundraiser was attended by several actors, including George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jason Bateman and Kathryn Hahn.
Obama said Trump was a convicted felon. He reminded the audience that the coming election presented “the spectacle of the nominee of one of the two major parties sitting in court and being convicted by a jury of his peers on 34 counts”.
“There are certain standards and values we should stand for,” Obama added.
Praising Biden, Obama also said that “we can take pride in affirming the extraordinary work that Joe has done”.
Biden’s fundraiser followed a day of campaigning by Trump in Michigan, where the former president railed against Biden on issues ranging from inflation to immigration and foreign policy, calling him “the worst president in the history of our country.”
Source: Politico