The disdain among President Donald Trump and his supporters for President Barack Obama is not a secret. Even after U.S. military forces took out the leader of ISIS, which one might expect to be a solemn, serious moment, Trump couldn’t resist belittling Obama when he claimed that taking out Osama bin Laden under his previous leadership wasn’t as great of an accomplishment as what had just happened. Now, leading Democratic presidential primary candidate and former Obama second-in-command Joe Biden has told a rally crowd that he’d actually be open to nominating the former president to the U.S. Supreme Court, and considering precedent, if Trump hears of the possibility, he seems likely to have a fit.
Over the weekend, reporter Ken Thomas shared:
‘Biden asked here in Washington, Iowa, if he would ever nominate former President Obama to serve on the Supreme Court. “If he’d take it, yes,” Biden says.’
Biden asked here in Washington, Iowa, if he would ever nominate former President Obama to serve on the Supreme Court. “If he’d take it, yes,” Biden says.
— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) December 28, 2019
Only one former president has ever served on the Supreme Court. William Howard Taft served as chief justice of the court some years after his time in office ended. It’s unclear if Obama would be at all interested in a related position, but he does have a legal background that includes work as a civil rights attorney and professor of Constitutional law prior to his time as an elected official.
Biden has been hitting the campaign trail a lot lately. One recent event in Iowa turned tense when an attendee brought up the baseless allegations of corruption that the president has lobbed at the former vice president’s son, Hunter. Trump’s insistence on Ukraine investigating those allegations in exchange for military aid and a summit in D.C. is what drove him to impeachment. Biden responded to the rally attendee by bluntly calling him a liar and mockingly challenging him to physical tests like a push-up contest after he also brought up the candidate’s age. Most recently, he’s headed to New Hampshire, which is an early voting state like Iowa. Although he’s leading in national level polling, he’s in third in both of those states.
He’s running on campaign platforms that also feature Obama. Although other candidates like Bernie Sanders have proposed dramatic reorganizations of the nation’s health care system, Biden wants to build on the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare. Over the weekend, Biden insisted:
‘Donald Trump will stop at nothing to sabotage Obamacare and roll back the progress we’ve made. We have to protect the ACA and build on it to ensure every American has access to quality, affordable care.’
Donald Trump will stop at nothing to sabotage Obamacare and roll back the progress we've made. We have to protect the ACA and build on it to ensure every American has access to quality, affordable care. pic.twitter.com/kpR8YxOFMY
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 29, 2019
It’s true that the current administration has expended a great deal of effort trying to unwind Obamacare. They even threw their support behind a lawsuit brought by a coalition of Republican-led states arguing that the entire law should be thrown out.
Biden has consistently been taking on Trump directly, even before the primary race concludes. He also recently insisted that because “our democracy is in trouble,… we need a president who will rise above the personal attacks and reach out to unite this nation.”
Our democracy is in trouble. We’re at the breaking point. And we need a president who will rise above the personal attacks and reach out to unite this nation.
If we come together and act as one America, there's nothing we can’t accomplish.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 28, 2019
