President Biden predicted during a speech Wednesday that the next president will be able to appoint two new Supreme Court justices, while warning against former President Trump winning another term.
“Guess what, the next president, they’re going to be able to appoint a couple of justices and I’ll be damned—” he said at a rally in Philadelphia.
The president campaigned at Girard College for the launch of Black Voters for Biden-Harris, an effort intended to mobilize support in the Black community.
He sought to woo Black voters in his remarks, including a vow to add progressive judges to the Supreme Court if he’s reelected.
“Look, if in fact they’re able to change some of the justices when they retire and put in some really progressive judges, like we’ve always had, tell me that won’t change your life when Trump justices are already gutting voting rights, overturning Roe, decimating affirmative action, and so much more,” he said. “We’re going to let that happen? We can’t. No, we really can’t.”
His remark about appointing new justices follow calls last month for Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the most senior liberal justice on the conservative-leaning Supreme Court, to step down while Democrats hold the White House and Senate and can secure her replacement.
The idea came from left-wing activists and commentators, who wanted to avoid a repeat of when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg opted to not step down in 2014 during the Obama administration. Ginsburg died at 87 in September 2020 during the last months of the Trump administration. But Senate Democrats pushed back on the calls targeting Sotomayor, who is 69, saying they were “baffled” by the idea.
Trump appointed the successor for Ginsburg and cemented the 6-3 majority on the high court.
The oldest jurist on the high court is Justice Clarence Thomas, who is 75.
The second oldest, Justice Samuel Alito, 74, is facing calls to recuse himself from upcoming cases related to the election and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots after reports of flags connected to the “Stop the Steal” effort were flown outside his homes.
Alito told lawmakers on Wednesday he will not rescue himself, claiming he had nothing to do with the flags.
The Hill has reached out to the Biden campaign for comment on which justices the president expects to leave the court in the coming years.