Prior to the 2016 election, Republicans urged White House officials to hold off on picking a successor to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia until after the presidential election. More than four years later and the GOP wavers on their stance as the scramble to fill the vacant seat left by Ruth Bader Ginsburg begins. From inconsistent to “moral black holes,” the hosts of late night TV have their opinions on the GOP’s moves.
After paying tribute to “fierce defender of democracy” Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Late Night host Seth Meyers went on to chastise President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans’ efforts to try and fill the open U.S. Supreme Court Justice seat as soon as possible.
“It’s still worth taking stock at how insulting and transparent their lies were and remembering that for the future. It’s not just hypocrisy, it’s nihilist,” Meyers said. “They’re moral black holes who only care about the raw exercise of political power.”
Meyers bolstered his point with a video compilation, and a lengthy one at that, of Republicans including Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham, urging the government to hold off in selecting a successor to Scalia back in 2016.
While it may be entertaining to see how Republicans have shifted their stance in the past four years, Meyers said it can be pointless in trying to shame the political figures for their hypocrisy. He went on to liken the featured Republicans to bullies.
“I get that the hypocrisy is baked in, pointing that out won’t change their minds,” he said. “It’s like telling a middle school bully that giving me a wedgie won’t make his parents get back together. He knows that. He just wants to give you that wedgie.”
Trevor Noah also added his input Monday night to the political situation. Like Meyers, The Daily Show would pay tribute to Ginsburg, but Noah wanted to kick off the segment discussing the “all out war brewing over her replacement.” Noah touched on Republicans’ walking back on their hesitation to dub a new Supreme Court Justice during an election year.
He specifically called out Mitch McConnell and his now-outdated 2016 assertion that holding off until a new president’s in place would allow American voters to have more say in who fills the seat. Noah noted that it seems that rules don’t apply to White House Republicans. He then continued his segment by going after Trump.
“I can’t believe Donald J. Trump gets to name three Justices to the Supreme Court. The guy can’t even name three branches of government but he gets to name three justices serve who serve for life,” he said. “Trump couldn’t even pick his own partner for life but he could get he gets to do it for America?”
With Republicans controlling the Senate, Noah commented that progressive measures most likely won’t be passed for decades to come. He said that even left-leaning laws, like Roe v. Wade, may be removed due to the Justices that are in charge and the man who put the recently appointed ones there in the first place.
“Even after Trump leaves, his legacy will be in the country for decades,” he said. “It’s like someone came into your house to say ‘hey’ but they stepped in dogs**t right before and now it’s deep in the carpet and,legally, it doesn’t have to leave until it wants to.”
Watch the Meyers and Noah’s entire segments below.