Fox News "Sunday with Chris Wallace" - Transcript Interview with Chris Coons
Interview
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WALLACE: When President Trump nominates a new justice, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on the pick. Democratic Senator Chris Coons is a key member of that committee and also part of Joe Biden's inner circle.
Senator, what's wrong with President Trump and the Senate going ahead and confirming a replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg? I understand you won't like their choice, but there's nothing in the Constitution that curtails their powers, even if it's just six weeks before the election.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Chris, thanks for a chance to be on with you again.
First, we should start by, if I can, offering my condolences to the family, the loved ones, of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She spent 27 years on our country's highest court as a towering figure, a trailblazer, somebody who fought for gender equity. And I'll remind you, her dying wish, dictated to her granddaughter, as she passed on Rosh Hashanah, was that the voters should choose the next president, the next president should choose her successor. That's because she understood deeply our Constitution and the significance of the Supreme Court and its legitimacy.
For the Republican majority, just 44 days before the next presidential election, to rush through a new justice, in a partisan confirmation process, will further divide our country, will further challenge the legitimacy of the court, and I think would dishonor Justice Ginsburg's legacy.
WALLACE: But, in 2016, when President Obama nominated Merrick Garland, as we just discussed with Tom Cotton, to the court, and Republicans decided to block it, you were outraged. You wrote this. Now, all 100 members of the Senate must do our jobs by providing advice and consent on the president's nominee.
You wanted the Senate to go ahead and vote on Merrick Garland. I understand nine months is longer than six weeks, but, sir, the principle is the same.
COONS: Well, here's two key differences, if I might, Chris. First, in 25 states across our country, half of our states, Americans are already voting for the next president. We're not ten months or nine months away from an election, we're just 44 days from an election and an election where in half our states votes are already being cast.
Second, the Republican majority set this new precedent. They set it in 2016. They fought hard for it. In fact, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Lindsey Graham, restated it in 2018. So if they were going to set a new precedent that in an election year there shouldn't be a hearing, meetings, votes, they should live by it.
One of my friends, my colleague, Senator Murkowski, said in announcing that she would oppose any vote on a nominee before the next president is sworn in, fair is fair. And I, frankly, think the Republican majority should live with the precedent they set in 2016.
WALLACE: All right, let's get to the -- to the bottom line here, because some people would say this is really about power, who has the votes, much more than it is about principle.
If President Trump goes ahead, as he says he will, and nominates someone to the court, and if the Senate, as Senator McConnell says it will, goes ahead and decide to hold the confirmation hearing and then to hold a final confirmation vote, bottom line, is there anything Democrats can do to stop it?
COONS: Well, Chris, it shouldn't come to that. And so I've been appealing personally to my colleagues, Republicans and independents, to reflect on how this will impact the Senate, the Supreme Court, its legitimacy. We're already divided enough, Chris, and there's already enough important issues on the ballot this November. Healthcare is on the ballot. As you just said with Senator Cotton in your previous interview, the Supreme Court is hearing a landmark decision on -- just a week after the election --
WALLACE: Right.
COONS: In which President Trump and 18 Republican states attorneys general are trying to take away healthcare from a hundred million Americans in the midst of a pandemic. And there's six million Americans who have been infected, meaning they may have new, pre-existing conditions.
And I'll remind you, a key -- a key element of the Affordable Care Act is gender equity.
WALLACE: I don't mean to interrupt, Senator, but -- but the specific question I asked -- Senator, I -- I -- I understand all of that. I asked you a direct question, though, is there anything Democrats can do to stop it?
COONS: Well, the Republican majority is going to be responsible for what we do in the next 44 days. We ought to be delivering relief from this pandemic. We ought to be taking up and voting on --
WALLACE: OK.
COONS: A package that will help schools open safely and support more vaccine research and support state and local governments. Mitch McConnell hasn't done that work in the six months since we last passed a relief package.
WALLACE: OK.
COONS: That's what we should be doing.
WALLACE: I -- I understand.
COONS: Not rushing through a nominee.
WALLACE: I'm just -- OK.
During a call with all of the Democratic senators yesterday, your leader, Chuck Schumer, said this. I want to put it up on the screen. If Republicans move ahead to confirm a justice, quote, then nothing is off the table for next year. Nothing is off the table.
Does that mean, Senator, that if Democrats take back the majority in the Senate next year, that when you say "nothing is off the table," that you will end the filibuster for legislation? Does it mean that you will pack the court? That you will add enough justices so that Democrats again have a majority on the court?
COONS: Well, I'll let -- I'll let Senator Schumer speak for himself, but here's what I know. Joe Biden said I think yesterday that everything's on the table for the election, meaning the consequences of this election for healthcare, for women's rights, for equality, for equity, for clean air and clean water are profound. And we should let the voters speak in this next election.
I'll remind you again, half of our states are already voting for the next president. We should honor Justice Ginsburg's last wish and let the voters pick the next president, the next president pick the next justice. We shouldn't be racing through this partisan process, which will further divide us in the Senate. And I, frankly, think further undermine the legitimacy of the Supreme Court, an institution our democracy badly needs to function.
WALLACE: Let's -- let -- let's focus -- and -- and we're running out of time, so I'm going to ask you to be brief here, sir.
If President Trump does get his nominee confirmed to the court, either before the election or in a lame duck session, what's at stake here? What does it mean for the court?
COONS: Yes, there's a huge amount at stake here, Chris, that's why Justice Ginsburg made this her dying wish. The legitimacy of the court will be harmed by its further politicization. Just 44 days before an election, when the Republican majority, just four years ago, when Justice Ginsburg's close friend Justice Scalia passed away, insisted on keeping that seat open for nearly ten months. I think it further suggests to the American people that this is all about politics, not about principle.
I am going to be working this weekend, this week, to reach across the aisle and see if I can't persuade some friend to respect tradition, to respect the precedent they set in 2016 and to let the voters decide.
WALLACE: Finally, as I noted earlier, you're a member of Joe Biden's inner circle.
How do you think -- let's assume, and I think there's every reason to assume, what we've heard from the president, we've heard from McConnell, we've heard from Tom Cotton today, they're going to go ahead with this. How does this reshape the race for president?
COONS: Well, I think it further focuses the American people on what's at stake. I'll remind you, Justice Ginsburg fought relentlessly for gender equity. That's why there were thousands of people at the steps of the Supreme Court last night, peacefully, quietly recognizing and mourning her passing.
The Affordable Care Act prevents discrimination based on gender by insurance companies. And there's a case in front of the Supreme Court where President Trump, with the support of 47 Republican senators, is trying to take that away. That's what's at stake in this election. That's what's at stake in terms of who fills the seat left vacant by the tragic passing of Justice Ginsburg.
WALLACE: Senator Coons, thank you. Thanks for your time this weekend. Please come back, sir.
COONS: Thank you, Chris.
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