During Wednesday’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Democrat VP candidate Kamala Harris repeatedly badgered nominee Amy Coney Barrett on whether she agreed with a statement of Justice Roberts that voting discrimination still exists, but Barrett declined to answer.
“Senator Harris, I will not comment on what any justice said in an opinion, whether an opinion is right or wrong, or endorse that proposition,” Barrett said.
“Do you call it a proposition or a fact?” Harris shot back. “Are you saying you don’t agree with a fact?” Barrett again replied, “Senator, I’m not going to make a comment,” and Harris pressed, “Are you saying you refuse to dispute a known fact? Or that you refuse to agree with a known fact?”
Barrett held firm: “Senator, I’m not exactly sure what you’re getting at with asking me to endorse the fact or that any particular practice constitutes voter discrimination. I’m very happy to say that I think racial discrimination still exists in the United States, and I think we’ve seen evidence of that this summer.”
“Do you think voting discrimination exists based on race in America in any form?” Harris said. Barrett replied, “What I mean to say is that I’m not going to express an opinion, because these are very charged issues. They have been litigated in the courts, and so I will not engage on that question.”