Biden: 'You will know my opinion on court packing when the election is over'
Joe Biden answers question from reporter on court packing while visiting Arizona.
Joe Biden is receiving rare criticism from the mainstream media over his latest refusal to say whether or not he is in favor of court-packing.
The subject of adding seats to the Supreme Court has been a hot politicial topic since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last month. While many Democrats have supported the idea if the party wins the White House and Senate this fall, both Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris, have repeatedly refused to take a position, even when directly asked during the presidential and vice presidential debates.
Speaking to reporters in Phoenix on Thursday, the Biden-Harris ticket stuck with their answer of not answering.
"You'll know my opinion of court-packing when the election's over!" Biden exclaimed. "Now look, I know it's a great question and I don't blame you for asking, but you know the moment I answer, the headline in every one of your papers will be about that other than focusing on what's happening now."
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He continued, "The election has begun. There's never been a court appointment once an election has begun. Four million or so people have already voted. They're [Republicans are] denying the American people the one shot they have under constitutional law to be able to have their input."
Biden's response received backlash from media members on social media.
"This doesn’t make any sense," ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl reacted.
"The Supreme Court is on the minds of many and people are voting now. He needs to answer," Daily Beast reporter Hanna Trudo wrote.
"This is such a cop-out," CBS News correspondent Kathryn Watson agreed.
"Can he really hold to this same answer for 26 days?" Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler asked.
"Not sure I've ever seen a politician explicitly say I'm not telling you what I think about an important issue until after you vote for me," Axios reporter Jonathan Swan said.
"I have never seen a presidential candidate go with the 'if I answer your question it will make news' excuse. It's truly insulting, and the media is letting him get away with it," RealClearPolitics co-founder and president Tom Bevan tweeted.
"This question should continue to be asked until Biden commits one way or another," tweeted The Hill media reporter Joe Concha. "A decision of this magnitude altering the course of the third branch of government forever cannot be just shrugged off. This should lead on the nightly newscasts tonight. It won't."