During a campaign speech Wednesday in Philadelphia, President Joe Biden told supporters that the next president will be able to appoint two new Supreme Court Justices.
“Guess what? The next president, they’re going to be able to appoint a couple of justices, and I’ll be damned,” Biden told the crowd.
Speaking to a mostly Black audience at Girard College, Biden presented his prediction as one of caution and what could happen if former President Donald Trump retakes the White House in November.
“Look, if in fact they’re able to change some of the justices when they retire and put in some really progressive judges, like we’ve always had, tell me that won’t change your life when Trump justices are already gutting voting rights, overturning Roe [v. Wade], decimating affirmative action, and so much more,” he said. “We’re going to let that happen? We can’t. No, we really can’t.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris launched a campaign that aims to spend additional tax dollars on Black student organizations, community groups, and faith centers.
The Biden campaign’s targeting of Black voters has been seen as a sign of dwindling poll numbers as many Blacks are drifting away from their monolithic support of progressive candidates. According to a CBS News poll taken in March, Black voter support for Trump has surged from 4% in 2020 to 23% in 2024. This number expanded further in April with a Wall Street Journal< poll that found Trump support among Black men in the seven swing states had risen to 30%.
The Democrats have used the Trump appointed judges as a scare tactic amongst their loyal progressive base. Currently, the conservative justices outnumber liberals by 6 to 3 with the last two being Biden appointees. Even though Justice Clarence Thomas is the oldest serving justice at 75, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, 69, has received calls to step aside so that Biden can appoint a liberal replacement in case Trump wins.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg did not retire amid failing health at 87, and Trump was able to replace her with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, giving Trump the leeway to create the most conservative Supreme Court the U.S. has seen in decades.
