President Biden promoted on Monday his efforts to appoint Black women to the federal judiciary, touting Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation as a signature victory for Black Americans.
Mr. Biden told the Rev. Al Sharpton and National Action Network event attendees that he had worked to install more Black women as judges in an effort to make the federal judiciary resemble all of America.
“I made a commitment to you, Al, I said, ‘I’m going to appoint the first Black woman to the Supreme Court,’ and she’s about the smartest one of all of them I might add,” Mr. Biden said. “And by the way, we have appointed more Black women to the federal circuit courts than every other president in American history combined.”
The president implored attendees of the event commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to also thank Sen. Richard Durbin, Illinois Democrat and Senate Judiciary Committee chair, for his efforts to advance Black women appointees through the confirmation process.
Rev. Sharpton compared Mr. Biden’s work to that of a preceding senator-turned-president from the 20th century, President Lyndon B. Johnson.
“Dr. King worked with Lyndon Johnson and was able to bring about some of the most legislative, transformative things that literally changed our life,” Rev. Sharpton said. “In the last two years, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have literally brought about things that have changed the lives of all Americans.”
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Mr. Biden’s appearance at the MLK Day commemoration marked his third visit to the National Action Network’s annual event. He spoke there in 2014 as vice president and in 2019 before announcing his presidential campaign, according to a White House official.
Mr. Biden ripped his Republican counterparts at Monday’s event while pledging to work with GOP lawmakers as they take control of the House.
The president called Republicans “fiscally demented” and criticized the political right wing.
“I love my right-wing friends who talk about the tree of liberty is watered with the blood of patriots,” Mr. Biden said. “If you need to worry about taking on the federal government, you need some F-15s. You don’t need an AR-15. I’m serious, think about it.”
Mr. Biden’s message chastising Republicans on Monday came after a trip on Sunday to King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church. Mr. Biden became the first sitting president to deliver a Sunday morning sermon at the church.
“My message to this nation on this day is we go forward, we go together, when we choose democracy over autocracy, a beloved community over chaos, when we choose believers and the dreams, to be doers, to be unafraid, always keeping the faith,” Mr. Biden said.
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The president said the struggle to safeguard democracy happens at ballot boxes and courthouses while noting that America does not always get things right. He decried people trafficking in “racism, extremism [and] insurrection.”
Mr. Biden’s message to Americans about vigilance and safeguarding democracy comes amid fresh questions about his handling of classified documents from the Obama administration.
Attorney General Merrick Garland selected Robert Hur as a special counsel last week to probe the discovery of classified documents in Mr. Biden’s possession.
Federal law prevents the retention of classified documents outside of secure locations without authorization, and Mr. Garland directed Mr. Hur to review whether anyone or any entity violated the law in the handling of the classified material.
• This article was based in part on wire-service reports.
• Ryan Lovelace can be reached at rlovelace@washingtontimes.com.
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