- Fri Oct 09, 2020 6:04 pm
#127813
hile making the case that President Trump should put off filling the current high court vacancy until after the 2020 presidential election, Harris offered a fabricated “history lesson” about Honest Abe, according to the Federalist.
“In 1864 … Abraham Lincoln was up for re-election. And it was 27 days before the election. And a seat became open on the United States Supreme Court. Abraham Lincoln’s party was in charge not only of the White House but the Senate. But Honest Abe said, ‘It’s not the right thing to do. The American people deserve to make the decision about who will be the next president of the United States, and then that person will be able to select who will serve on the highest court of the land,’” Harris said. “And so Joe [Biden] and I are very clear: The American people are voting right now, and it should be their decision about who will serve on this most important body for a lifetime.”
But in truth, Lincoln wasn’t able to fill the seat before the November election because the Senate was not in session until December. Lincoln then pushed through a confirmation of Justice Salmon Chase the first chance he had — one day after the session began, historians told the outlet.
“In 1864 … Abraham Lincoln was up for re-election. And it was 27 days before the election. And a seat became open on the United States Supreme Court. Abraham Lincoln’s party was in charge not only of the White House but the Senate. But Honest Abe said, ‘It’s not the right thing to do. The American people deserve to make the decision about who will be the next president of the United States, and then that person will be able to select who will serve on the highest court of the land,’” Harris said. “And so Joe [Biden] and I are very clear: The American people are voting right now, and it should be their decision about who will serve on this most important body for a lifetime.”
But in truth, Lincoln wasn’t able to fill the seat before the November election because the Senate was not in session until December. Lincoln then pushed through a confirmation of Justice Salmon Chase the first chance he had — one day after the session began, historians told the outlet.