- The Washington Times - Tuesday, October 13, 2020

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Tuesday that Joseph R. Biden saying he’s “not a fan” of expanding the number of seats on the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t do much to clear up the Democratic presidential nominee’s actual stance on the issue.

“It’s easy for him to end this conversation: Just come out and say no, I will oppose packing the court. Done. He can’t say that,” Mr. Gingrich said on “Fox & Friends.”

“Because his left will go crazy because they want to pack the court. On the other hand, he knows over two-thirds of the American people oppose packing the court,” Mr. Gingrich said.

He said Mr. Biden’s latest answer is “pretty good politics.”

“[He] showed just a little bit of leg to the middle — ’oh, gee, I … don’t like the idea.’ But now [if] he gets angry phone calls, he can say hey, I didn’t rule it out,” Mr. Gingrich said. “So he’s trying to walk down both sides of the road.”

Mr. Biden for weeks has declined to take a position on the issue, saying he didn’t want to distract from Republicans’ push to confirm Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court so close to an election.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala D. Harris, who said during her own 2020 presidential campaign that she was open to expanding the court, has tried to toe the ticket line and avoid taking a position.

Ms. Harris did use last week’s vice presidential debate to tell a dubious story about Abraham Lincoln’s decision to wait until after the 1864 election to offer up a nomination for the high court.

• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.

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