Liberal MSNBC host Al Sharpton said Wednesday that Senate Democrats should give "the big payback" to Republicans over President Trump's Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch.
Sharpton argued that Republicans refusing to give a hearing to Merrick Garland, President Obama's Supreme Court nominee last year, merited similar treatment by Democrats for the "very conservative" Gorsuch, Breitbart reported.
"He's being nominated to sit in Garland's seat," Sharpton said. "President Barack Obama nominated Judge Garland, who has got as much or more qualifications as this nominee, to have been the Supreme Court judge ... They stalled, they filibustered, they would not even give a hearing to Judge Garland. It is time for the Democrats now to say since you changed the rules, you're going to have to live by the rules that you applied to President Obama's nominee, and we are not going to allow you to change it, and we will use those rules to block this nominee, Judge Gorsuch."
"The Bible says that you sow that–that same thing shall you also reap. But Bill Bellamy had a better idea—they should come in the Senate and replay 'The Big Payback,' James Brown song," Sharpton continued. "Bill was right, just take one of them old blasters, Chuck Schumer, and blast out 'The Big Payback.' You took my judge. That ain't right. Wouldn't give a hearing. You know that I'm tight–the big payback."
However, Democrats were in the minority last year and failed to recapture the Senate in the 2016 election. As such, it is expected that Gorsuch will ascend to the Supreme Court.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) can invoke the "nuclear option," which would eliminate the Democrats' ability to filibuster Gorsuch's nomination should they choose to do so. With the GOP holding 52 seats, Gorsuch could then be confirmed with a simple majority.
The death of Justice Antonin Scalia a year ago touched off a debate in 2016 over whether Supreme Court nominees should be acted on in an election year. Republicans cited then-Sen. Joe Biden's declaration in 1992 that no Supreme Court nomination should be made by President George H.W. Bush until after that November's election. Democrats angrily called on the Republicans to "do their job" and give Garland a hearing, but they did not budge.