Biden campaign co-chair says Supreme Court packing question is ‘hypothetical’

Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), the co-chair of Joe Biden’s campaign, refused to answer whether or not he or the Democratic presidential nominee supported expanding the Supreme Court — a question Biden and other Democrats been avoiding in recent weeks.

“I think it’s a legitimate question for you to ask, but it is a distraction with 22 days before the election,” Richmond said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Speaking with guest host Jon Karl, the congressman was asked where Biden stood on the issue of court-packing. Rep. Richmond said, “That’s a better question for me. I’m in Congress. It would take legislation from the United States Congress and the United States Senate to do it. But I think that Joe Biden and Senator Harris are very clear, that it is a distraction. We should not be talking about a hypothetical court packing once this nominee is confirmed. What’s — when we’re talking about packing, we’re talking about all the judges that he is packing on the court right now.”

Biden still won’t say whether he supports court packing.

@jonkarl: “Does he support expanding the Supreme Court?”

Rep. Cedric Richmond: “Joe Biden and Sen. Harris are very clear that it is a distraction. We should not be talking about a hypothetical.” https://t.co/Hcs1jrZbE6 pic.twitter.com/Py3DhGVyZM

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 11, 2020

Richmond then shifted the attention to President Trump’s own record of “court-packing.”

“He packed the appellate court, the circuit court, with 50 judges. But I bet you he didn’t mention that to black or brown people yesterday at his White House rally, that out of 50 circuit court judges, he couldn’t find one qualified black person to sit on the circuit court. So when you talk about court packing, that’s what they’re doing,” Richmond said.

Biden has thus far stated that he will not reveal his stance on court-packing until after the election.