Sen. Ted Cruz says President Joe Biden’s pledge to nominate the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court is “insulting to Black women” and “offensive” to everyone else.
The Texas Republican made the comments Monday on an episode of his Verdict podcast. “The fact that he’s willing to make a promise at the outset, that it must be a Black woman, I got to say: That’s offensive,” Cruz said. ”You know, Black women are what, 6 percent of the U.S. population?”
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“He’s saying to 94 percent of Americans, ‘I don’t give a damn about you, you are ineligible.’ And it’s also an insult to Black women,” Cruz added, suggesting Biden wouldn’t pick a qualified candidate.
“If you’re a white guy, tough luck,” Cruz said. “If you’re a white woman, tough luck. You don’t qualify.”
Biden made the pledge to nominate the first Black woman Supreme Court Justice when he was running for the Democratic nomination in 2020, during a debate held in the run-up to the South Carolina primary. After Justice Stephen Breyer announced his intention to retire from the Supreme Court at the end of the current term, in June, the White House reaffirmed Biden’s commitment to picking a Black woman to replace him.
“The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity, and that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court,” Biden said in remarks at the White House alongside Breyer last month.
Cruz joined a number of other prominent conservatives who’ve suggested Biden wouldn’t select the most qualified candidate because he’s promised to pick a Black woman. Ilya Shapiro, who was set to join the faculty of Georgetown University’s law school this month, said in a now-deleted tweet that Biden should choose moderate U.S. Circuit Judge Sri Srinivasan instead of a “lesser Black woman.” Shapiro was placed on administrative leave from the university Monday.
Black women have historically been woefully underrepresented on the federal bench. Only two Black men and five women have served on the Court in the history of the United States, out of more than 100 justices. And prior to Biden’s presidency, eight Black women had served on the U.S. Court of Appeals. Since assuming office, Biden has nominated eight Black women to the circuit courts, including potential Supreme Court nominees Ketanji Brown Jackson and J. Michelle Childs.
Biden is not the first president to pledge to diversify the Supreme Court. Before his election in 1980, Ronald Reagan promised to pick the first woman Supreme Court justice, and did so a year later when he nominated Sandra Day O’Connor. And after Ruth Bader Ginsburg died in September 2020, former President Donald Trump immediately promised to pick a woman to replace her; he selected conservative Amy Coney Barrett, who was quickly confirmed by the Republican-majority Senate.
Cruz was conspicuously silent on Trump’s pledge when he immediately announced his support for Trump’s choice of Barrett, and later when he asked Barrett questions during her confirmation hearing.
Democrats slammed Cruz for his comments Monday. “I’d love to know how many Black women Ted Cruz consulted before he decided he was qualified to speak on our behalf,” Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey tweeted.
Rep. Marilyn Strickland, a Washington Democrat, echoed the sentiment.
“This nation has been built on the strength and fortitude of Black women. We are everything from caregivers to CEOs and soon, a Supreme Court Justice,” she tweeted. “The only thing insulting to this Black woman is Ted Cruz thinking he speaks for us.”
