While discussing economic issues in prepared remarks with reporters at the White House on Wednesday, President Joe Biden delved into other subject matters, including the Supreme Court’s draft opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health OrganizationThis information was leaked earlier in the week.
This draft opinion, which was written by Justice Samuel Alito (conservative), stated that The Court was to invalidate abortion protections established in the 1973 ruling Roe v. Wade. Sources speaking with us say that such draft rulings may not reflect the final Court decision on any given matter. Politico, as of this week, five of the Court’s conservative bloc of justices (composing a majority of the Court overall) were prepared to back the ruling.
The Court’s official ruling is expected to be published within the next month.
Biden blasted that findingThe petitioner expressed concern that other rights established by the Supreme Court in the past decades could be lost, leading to discrimination against different groups.
“This is about a lot more than abortion,” Biden said.
He also added:
What happens if you have states change the law saying that children who are LGBTQ can’t be in classrooms with other children. Is this legal under the decision?
Biden’s concerns have been echoed by other lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), who earlier this week also said LGBTQ protections — including marriage equality, an issue the Supreme Court decided on just seven years ago — could be at risk of being undone.
“As we’ve warned, SCOTUS isn’t just coming for abortion – they’re coming for the right to privacy Roe rests on, which includes gay marriage + civil rights,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday.
Biden’s comments on the economy, the Supreme Court and other topics were not the only ones he made. He also criticized the Republican Party for allowing Donald Trump to control them and determining their direction.
“This MAGA crowd” — referencing Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” — “is really the most extreme political organization that’s existed in American history, in recent American history,” Biden said.
The president mentioned social and economic agendas from GOP lawmakers, including Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-Florida) 11-point plan that includes tax increases on Americans earning low incomes.
“Senator Rick Scott of Florida … released what he calls the ultra-MAGA agenda. It’s a MAGA agenda all right,” Biden derisively said. “Let me tell you about this ultra-MAGA agenda. It’s extreme, as most MAGA things are.”
He went on, stating that Republicans today were a “different breed of cat” from those he’s worked with in his nearly 50-year career in Washington, D.C.
“They’re not like what I served with for so many years,” the president said. “And the people who know better are afraid to act correctly, because they know they’ll be primaried.”
