Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet (D) on Wednesday accused Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) of “destroying the judiciary.”
In a fiery floor speech, Bennet tore into McConnell’s plan to use the so-called “nuclear option” by breaking Senate rules in order to confirm President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees.
Bennet grew angry as he recalled McConnell saying: “My proudest moment was when I looked Barack Obama in the eye and said, Mr. President, you will not fill this Supreme Court vacancy.”
“And he did it because he knew he could get away with it,” Bennet remarked. “And he thought he would roll the dice. And it was shameful.”
“I think you can thank the majority leader for electing Donald Trump because by keeping that vacancy on the court, he made that the issue in the election. And he galvanized the Republicans around a candidate who otherwise wouldn’t have been very appealing to many of them,” the senator added. “People say that he stole a Supreme Court seat. It’s bigger than that. He won the presidency for Donald Trump, and we know what’s happened since that time.”
