Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) claimed on Wednesday that the American people believe the "appropriate standard" for President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee to be confirmed is 60 votes.
Schumer's speech on the Senate floor focused on Judge Neil Gorsuch's upcoming confirmation vote next week and how he should be held to the "standard" of receiving 60 votes in order to get confirmed to the high court.
"Most of us waited until after the hearings, because at the hearings he had a chance to distance himself from these views, but he refused to substantively answer question after question," Schumer said.
Schumer accused Gorsuch on the second day of the hearings of playing "dodgeball" with questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
He continued his speech by saying that the American people believed the "appropriate standard" for a Supreme Court nominee's confirmation is 60 votes. Schumer does not provide any evidence to support this claim, but used it to shield Democrats from being considered "obstructionists."
"So if Judge Gorsuch fails to reach 60 votes, which by the way the American people believe is the 'appropriate standard' for a Supreme Court nominee. It's not because Democrats are being obstructionists. It's because he failed to convince 60 Senators that he belongs on the Supreme Court," Schumer said.
Not only is Schumer incorrect to claim that the American people believe that the 60-vote threshold is the "appropriate standard," but the Washington Post fact check has already given Senate Democrats two Pinocchios for saying that 60 votes is a "standard" for Supreme Court nominees.
"Democrats are being slippery with their language. Sixty votes is not 'a standard' for Supreme Court confirmations, as two of the current justices on the court did not meet that supposed standard," the Post wrote.
40 percent of Americans compared to 23 percent of Americans said that they believe Gorsuch should confirmed by the Senate, the Huffington Post reported.
A plurality of the public thinks the Senate should vote to confirm Neil Gorsuch as a Supreme Court justice, according to a newly released HuffPost/YouGov poll, although many say they’ve paid relatively little attention to the process.
Americans say by a 17-percentage-point margin, 40 percent to 23 percent, that Gorsuch, the federal appeals judge nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Antonin Scalia, should be confirmed. An additional 37 percent aren’t sure. (A poll taken after Gorsuch’s nomination was first announced in February found that Americans favored confirmation by a similar 15-point margin, 43 percent to 28 percent, with 29 percent undecided.)