On Thursday's New Day show, CNN again catered to concerns by liberals who are worried that President Joe Biden will miss the chance to appoint a liberal to replace Stephen Breyer unless the Supreme Court justice retires in an hurry. Chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin (who masturbated on a Zoom call, but wasn't fired by CNN) even went into a rant against Justice Breyer for refusing to retire at age 82.
Reacting to an interview that CNN Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic recently did with the liberal justice in which he refused to commit to retiring soon, Toobin brought up Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's unexpected replacement, fretting:
But, you know, the fact is if he waits like Ruth Ginsburg waited, thinking that, "Oh, well, you know, a Democrat will somehow replace me," you know, then we will get another Amy Coney Barrett when Tom Cotton is President, or, you know, whoever the next Republican is. You know, this is the kind of absence of strategic thinking that has done in Democrats on the Supreme Court, and we'll see if it continues here.
Hinting that Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) might fail to serve out the rest of his term, Toobin complained that, by not retiring immediately, Justice Breyer "is gambling with the future of the Supreme Court, and, you know, Ruth Ginsburg lost that gamble."
After Biskupic recalled her recent conversation in which she suggested that he was enjoying being the senior liberal justice on the court, and would like to go on for another year, Toobin jumped in to go on a rant against the liberal justice for not putting the interests of his fellow liberals first:
Well, what other job do we say that 82-year-olds shouldn't retire? I mean, come on, I mean, it's just, you know, 82 is not the new anything -- 82 is old. He's been on the court -- he's been on the court -- he's been on the court since 1994. No one's shoving him off prematurely. I mean, what is it with these justices that they can't say, "You know what, I've been here for 20 years, 30 years. It's time to go"?
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CNN
New Day
July 15, 2021
8:33 a.m. Eastern
JOHN BERMAN: He talks about the court as a historical institution. The way he sees it or wishes it would be is away from politics. The way it is, Jeffrey, may be vastly different. And I think that this news from Joan (Biskupic) might upset a lot of liberals who were hoping for something different.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: You know, as usual, Steven Breyer is playing checkers, and Mitch McConnell is playing chess. I mean, the idea that he is somehow preserving the court by pretending that politics has nothing to do with the Supreme Court, you know, is just delusional. But, you know, he's in charge of whether Steven Breyer retires, and he is in good health. He does have all his marbles. He does, you know, want to be, as Joan writes in this story -- Joan always gets the exclusives that everyone who covers the Supreme Court wants.
He says, you know, he likes being the senior liberal on the court, which he hasn't been because Ruth Ginsburg, you know, was senior to him. But, you know, the fact is if he waits like Ruth Ginsburg waited, thinking that, "Oh, well, you know, a Democrat will somehow replace me," you know, then we will get another Amy Coney Barrett when Tom Cotton is President, or, you know, whoever the next Republican is. You know, this is the kind of absence of strategic thinking that has done in Democrats on the Supreme Court, and we'll see if it continues here.
BRIANNA KEILAR: Because, take us, Jeffrey, through the scenarios here, when the window closes for him being replaced if he decided to leave, by someone who would be appointed by a Democrat. And then with the possibility, as you mentioned, that a Republican might be elected in the next cycle.
TOOBIN: It doesn't even have to be -- remember, we have a midterm election coming up.
KEILAR: Yes.
TOOBIN: And if historical trends continue, the Republicans are going to retake the Senate. Now, I don't know if that's going to happen, but that's the trend. And Mitch McConnell has all but said, in the next two years -- not one year -- in the next two years, if he's majority leader, he will not allow a vote on a Democratic replacement, you know, a Joe Biden replacement for Supreme Court justice. So the margin now is about a year and a half. But it could be even shorter than that.
Now, with all respect to Pat Leahy, Pat Leahy is quite old -- he is a senior Senator from Vermont -- if he would have to resign, there's a Republican governor in Vermont who would appoint his successor. So, you know, the window for him to leave is extremely small to assure a Democratic replacement. You know, maybe, Joan, you know, maybe he'll leave next year. But who knows what the story will be next year before the midterms? I mean, you know, he is gambling with the future of the Supreme Court, and, you know, Ruth Ginsburg lost that gamble. We'll see what happens with Steven Breyer.
BERMAN: Does Breyer know this, Joan? Will he reconsider next year?
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: He has, you know, he's watched all of this. He obviously was at the side of Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she kept rejecting pleas to step down. And she almost made it, you know. She died, obviously, in September, and her replacement came on just days before President Trump lost the election. But I think, in his mind, he probably thinks he has until next year because, you know, on paper, the Senate should stay Democratic majority until at least the midterms. So he would have that. And I know lots of liberals think that's a risk, but, you know, heck, this is a lifetime appointment.
As I mentioned earlier, you know, he was a junior justice for 11 years, nearly a record. And then he spent the last 10 years, number two to Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This is a new experience he has being the senior liberal, having more influence in the justices' private sessions. And he absolutely wants to seize that. And maybe he'll seize it just for one more year, which is making lots of people nervous, but I think he'll at least get this next year out, and we'll probably go through a version of what we've gone through this spring in 2022.
TOOBIN: Well, what other job do we say that 82-year-olds shouldn't retire? I mean, come on, I mean, it's just, you know, 82 is not the new anything -- 82 is old. He's been on the court -- he's been on the court -- he's been on the court since 1994. No one's shoving him off prematurely. I mean, what is it with these justices that they can't say, "You know what, I've been here for 20 years, 30 years. It's time to go"?
