Joe Biden says he's open to nominating Barack Obama to Supreme Court if he wins 2020 election: 'If he'd take it'
Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden might not have gotten endorsed by former president Barack Obama even though the duo had worked together as the top two men of the Obama administration for eight years, but he has not taken it to heart. The 77-year-old, on the contrary, has said that he is open to potentially appointing the former president to the US Supreme Court if he becomes the president next year.
Speaking at a campaign event in Washington, Iowa, on December 28, Biden made the remark when asked by one of the supporters whether he would nominate Obama to sit on the country’s apex court.
“If he'd take it, yes,” the former vice president said.
If it translates into reality, Obama would be the second president in history to serve on board of the Supreme Court. William Howard Taft is the only other US president (1909-13) to have become the chief justice of the country (1921-30) and he was a Republican. Taft was appointed by president Warren Harding and he resigned in February 1930 because of poor health. He died the next month at the age of 73.
Biden has taken the issue of Obama not endorsing him for next year’s election lightly. The former president has spoken against aged leaders and felt Biden was less capable of connecting with the voters and it was a surprise for many as it was expected that he would prefer his former working mate over the others. Biden, however, said that he did not need an Obama endorsement since he is already close to him. He is also doing well among the black voters and that perhaps makes Biden confident about his chances to win the backing of the Democratic Party’s base vote bank even without Obama’s blessings.
Biden also clarifies Friday remarks on impeachment trial subpoena
In Iowa, Biden also clarified one of his remarks made on December 27 that sparked controversy. He said there would be “no legal basis” for Republicans to subpoena his testimony in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
“I want to clarify something I said yesterday. In my 40 years in public life, I have always complied with a lawful order and in my eight years as VP, my office — unlike Donald Trump and Mike Pence — cooperated with legitimate congressional oversight requests,” the former Delaware senator said on Twitter.
“But I am just not going to pretend that there is any legal basis for Republican subpoenas for my testimony in the impeachment trial,” he added.