President Joe Biden has slammed the US Supreme Court as “out of kilter” at a glitzy fundraiser in Los Angeles with former President Barack Obama and top Hollywood celebrities that has raised $28 million (NZ$45 million).
Late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel began by showing a video montage contrasting Biden’s record with that of his predecessor and current Republican challenger Donald Trump. He drew cheers from the audience at a packed Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles, where Hollywood celebrities George Clooney and Julia Roberts were among the guests.
Biden, a Democrat who has frequently denounced specific decisions but resisted a full-throated attack on the court itself, said on Saturday “the Supreme Court has never been as out of kilter as it is today”.
“The fact of the matter is that there has never been a court that is this far out of step,” Biden said. He noted that conservative Justice Clarence Thomas had said the court, which overturned the half-century-old federal right to abortion, should reconsider such things as in vitro fertilisation and contraception.
Trump nominated three of the six conservatives who control the nine-member court. He and Biden are in a tight rematch race for the 5 November election.
If Trump is elected again, Biden said, he “is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees”.
“The idea that if he’s re-elected he’s going to appoint two more who are flying flags upside down… I think it is one of the scariest parts,” Biden said.
