Biden pledges to nominate black woman to Supreme Court

Former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenFormer chairman of Wisconsin GOP party signals he will comply with Jan. 6 committee subpoena Romney tests positive for coronavirus Pelosi sidesteps progressives' March 1 deadline for Build Back Better MORE during Tuesday night's Democratic debate pledged to nominate the first black woman to the Supreme Court if he’s elected president.

The former vice president used a question round about every candidate’s personal motto to make the pledge, pivoting to his message about the high court after listing his personal values.

“When you're get knocked down, get up, and everyone’s entitled to be treated with dignity — no matter what, no matter who they are,” Biden began. “Also, that everyone should be represented. No one is better than me and I’m no better than everyone else.”

“We talked about the Supreme Court — I’m looking forward to making sure there’s a black woman on the Supreme Court to make sure we in fact get everyone represented,” he went on.

The brief comment was the only mention of the Supreme Court at the debate in Charleston, S.C., Tuesday night and one of only a handful of mentions that the court has gotten throughout the campaign.

Some progressives have criticized the Democratic field for not making it a bigger issue, given President TrumpDonald TrumpFormer chairman of Wisconsin GOP party signals he will comply with Jan. 6 committee subpoena Overnight Defense & National Security — Pentagon tells Russia to stand down Billionaire GOP donor maxed out to Manchin following his Build Back Better opposition MORE’s success in securing conservative control of the court and the federal judiciary more generally.

Some of the candidates have proposed structural reforms to the court, like term limits for the justices or increasing the number of seats — an idea known as court packing.

A pair of progressive groups last month gave businessman Tom SteyerTom SteyerYouth voting organization launches M registration effort in key battlegrounds Overnight Energy: 'Eye of fire,' Exxon lobbyist's comments fuel renewed attacks on oil industry | Celebrities push Biden to oppose controversial Minnesota pipeline | More than 75 companies ask Congress to pass clean electricity standard Celebrities push Biden to oppose controversial Minnesota pipeline MORE’s court reform plan the highest grade out of the entire field for his explicit embrace of court packing.