Eight days before the election, Donald Trump recorded a huge victory with the confirmation of conservative magistrate Amy Coney Barrett at the Supreme Court of the United States, now firmly anchored and firmly on the right.
Despite the opposition of Democrats to a process deemed “illegitimate” so close to the presidential election, the elected Republican, the majority in the Upper House, all, with one exception, voted for the candidate chosen by the president.
“This is a historic day for America”, jubilated Donald Trump during the swearing-in of the magistrate, organized in the wake of the White House.
The president candidate, all smiles, praised “the impeccable qualifications”, “the generosity in the faith” and “the golden character” of this fervent Catholic of 48 years, mother of seven children and opposed to abortion.
For her part, she promised to keep her personal convictions away from her work as a judge. The opposite “would be a dereliction of duty,” she said.
The magistrate will join the temple of American law on Tuesday, where she will take the seat left vacant by the death of the progressive and feminist icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18.
The Supreme Court, arbiter of major social issues in the United States, will thus have six conservative judges out of nine, including three appointed by Donald Trump.
This undeniable success could galvanize voters on the religious right, who are grateful to the former real estate mogul for appointing, during his tenure, more than 200 judges loyal to their values across the justice system. federal.
Whatever the result of the election on November 3, this record will be lasting, because these positions are “for life” and Donald Trump has chosen magistrates who are generally young.
“Hypocrisy”
Speaking one last time before the vote, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham hailed a “historic” day and praised an “impressive scholar.”
Amy Coney Barrett is “brilliant, qualified”, applies the law and does not get involved in politics, added Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell, who imposed an extremely tight schedule on the confirmation process.
His Democratic counterpart Chuck Schumer denounced their “hypocrisy”. For him, Judge Barrett was not chosen for her qualifications, but because she “has radical right-wing opinions”, notably on abortion, civil rights or the environment.
With emphasis, he expressed his “sadness” at what is, for him, “one of the dark days in American history”.
Seconds after the vote, the youngest Democrat in Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, tweeted her support for an idea that is circulating more and more on the left: to increase the number of judges on the Supreme Court to counterbalance the influence of appointed judges by Donald Trump.
“All options must be on the table,” added Senator Elizabeth Warren, also a figure on the left wing of the Democratic Party.
“Not a fan” of this unpopular scenario, Donald Trump’s rival Joe Biden has not however completely ruled out. If elected, he will charge a commission to decide.
“Worst president”
Favorite in the polls, Joe Biden focuses most of his speech on COVID-19, which has claimed more than 225,000 lives in the United States, a heavy toll for which he blames his rival.
“Donald Trump is the worst president there is – the worst person there is – to lead us during this pandemic,” he said on Monday during a surprise visit to Pennsylvania, which his rival was crisscrossing at the same time.
In front of journalists, Donald Trump, on the defensive, had to swear that he “had not” capitulated to the virus, after ambiguous remarks by one of his relatives. “We are undoubtedly turning the page,” he continued.
The day before, statements by the Chief of Staff of the White House reinforced the feeling of an administration powerless, even overwhelmed by the situation. “We are not going to control the pandemic, we are going to control the fact that we can have vaccines,” Mark Meadows said on CNN.
The Democrats seized on these remarks to accuse the Republican administration of giving up in front of a virus which continues its devastation, with nearly 90,000 contaminations Saturday, a record.
Faced with his supporters, Donald Trump preferred to play the economic card, summing up the election to a choice between “a super rapid reconstruction with Trump or a depression with Biden”.