Sen. Ted Cruz comes out against President Biden’s vow to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz criticized President Joe Biden’s promise to select the first black woman to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

Cruz said the vow was “offensive” during an episode of his podcast “Verdict,” saying that Biden’s messaging to other Americans is “you are ineligible.” 

Cruz said. “The fact that he’s willing to make a promise at the outset, that it must be a black woman, I gotta say that’s offensive. You know, you know black women are what, 6 percent of the U.S. population? He’s saying to 94 percent of Americans, ‘I don’t give a damn about you, you are ineligible.’”

In 2019, black women made up 7 percent of the United States population according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Cruz continued, “And he’s also saying – it’s actually an insult to black women. If he came and said, ‘I’m gonna put the best jurist on the court’ and he looked at a number of people and ended up nominating a black woman, he could credibly say, ‘OK, I’m nominating the person who’s most qualified.’ He’s not even pretending to say that. He’s saying, ‘If you’re a white guy, tough luck. If you’re a white woman, tough luck. You don’t qualify.’” 

The controversy over Biden’s potential SCOTUS pick came after the announcement of Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement hit last week. “I’ve made no decision except one: The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character experience and integrity,” Biden commented at the time.

“And that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court. It’s long overdue in my view. I made that commitment during my campaign for president, and I will keep that commitment.”