Republican criticism of President Biden’s intent to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court comes at a tenuous time — as the party tries to expand its Black outreach.
Why it matters: The GOP had hoped to capitalize on Biden’s lower approval ratings among Black Americans, as well as recent failure to pass federal voting rights bills, to make inroads ahead of this year’s midterms and the 2024 presidential election.
- But Republican disagreement about the Supreme Court this week foreshadows the challenge for a party whose titular leader — Donald Trump — tapped deep-seated anxieties around race and gender during his four years as president.
In the Senate, though, some Republicans have lambasted Biden for his promise to install a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
The promise dates to the 2020 campaign.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called it “offensive” and “an insult to Black women.”
- Cruz didn’t take issue when Trump openly promised to nominate a woman in 2020, a seat that later went to Justice Amy Coney Barrett.