Reid: GOP going to ‘beat’ high court nominee ‘like a piñata’
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Tuesday slammed Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) for suggesting that Republicans would treat President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee like a “piñata.”
“They don’t know anything about the person, but they already have in their mind they are going to beat this person like a piñata,” Reid said. “He’s saying Republicans are going to do all they can to hurt this person’s reputation, to beat on him like a piñata.”
{mosads}Cornyn quickly fired back, saying he wouldn’t “be preached to” by Reid or other Democrats, citing their 2013 decision to trigger the “nuclear” option that allowed many judicial nominees to clear the Senate by a simple majority.
“I would be surprised if any person who actually aspired to be on the United States Supreme Court… would allow themselves to be used by this administration,” he added. “There’s no guarantee that that same person will be renominated.”
Republicans have pledged to block the nominee from getting a hearing or vote, arguing that the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat should be filled by the next president. Reid has taken to the floor on a daily basis to knock the GOP over the stance, suggesting that Republicans are forgoing their constitutional duty and playing politics.
He added Tuesday that Republicans have “been listening to Donald Trump too much.”
“The Republicans need to stop and listen to this disgusting rhetoric they’re spewing,” he said. “Now the Republicans are acting like big, tough people. … They’ve got to get their senses back.”
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