President Joe Biden appeared held a press conference on Thursday afternoon to announce the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

Of course, Biden went viral for his verbal errors and aimless rambling, but he also went viral for revealing Vice President Kamala Harris as his advisor for the selection process.

Biden began by recounting his history with Breyer.

“Justice Breyer and I go back a long way, all the way back to the mid-70s, when he first came on the judiciary committee, but that’s another story,” Biden said. Then he proceeded to tell that “other story” almost immediately.

“It was my honor to vote to confirm Justice Breyer to serve in the U.S. Supreme Court — uh, the Court of Appeals first — in 1980,” he said.

“I first met Stephen Breyer when I was a senator on the judiciary committee He started out as — taking care of one of the subcommittees for Teddy [Kennedy, the late Democratic senator from Massachusetts] and then became chief counsel during his tenure as Ted’s chairmanship of the judiciary committee.”

Breyer accompanied Biden in front of the podium. The retiring justice waved his pocket constitution, talked with his hands, and quoted the Gettysburg Address.

Meanwhile, Biden succumbed to his usual verbal slippage.

“The Constitution says seek the advice and consent, but the advice, as well, of the Senate,” Biden said.

He was dragged on Twitter for this nonsense remark. Take a look —

So, the question, then, is this: will you seek advice from all of the Senate, or just from your political party?

— mrquietgeek (@mrquietgeek) January 27, 2022

Biden went on to extol the virtues of bipartisanship… before vowing to slam his nomination through a 50-50 Senate, with Vice President Kamala Harris as both Senate’s tiebreaking vote and Biden’s advisor for the nomination process.

“Judge Breyer became Justice Breyer by an overwhelming bipartisan majority,” Biden said. “He has patiently sought common ground and built consensus, seeking to bring the court together. I think he’s a model public servant at a time of great division in this country.”

In 1994, Breyer was confirmed by a vote of 87 to 9. Now, the Senate may confirm Biden’s pick without a single vote from across the aisle. Longtime judiciary committeeman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said in a statement Wednesday, “If all Democrats hang together — which I expect they will — they have the power to replace Justice Breyer in 2022 without one Republican vote in support.”

“Choosing someone to sit on the Supreme Court, I believe, is one of the most serious constitutional responsibilities a president has,” Biden concluded.

“I’m fortunate to have advising me in the selection process: Vice President Kamala Harris.”

We’ll see how “serious” this nominee really is.

 

Read more: 2 stunning retirements — including a Supreme Court justice — rocked D.C. on Wednesday

 

The Horn editorial team