Biden on Supreme Court fight: "This is about whether or not the ACA will exist"
27 September 2020
Joe Biden made health care the overwhelming focus of his remarks from Wilmington, Del., on Sunday, stressing that the Senate confirmation battle over Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court is about preserving the Affordable Care Act in the midst of a pandemic.
Why it matters: Democrats are aggressively pushing the message that Barrett, who has previously criticized Chief Justice John Roberts for his 2012 ruling salvaging the ACA, will seek to invalidate the law when the Supreme Court hears a Trump administration-backed lawsuit against it on Nov. 10.
- President Trump himself tweeted on Sunday morning that the Supreme Court ending Obamacare would be a "big WIN" for the country.
- Trump has said that he is in favor of protecting pre-existing conditions, but those protections are only at risk because of the Republican lawsuit to dismantle the ACA.
What they're saying: "The clear focus is, this is about your health care. This is about whether or not the ACA will exist. This is about whether or not pre-existing conditions will continue to be covered. This is about whether or not a woman can be charged more for the same procedure as a man. This is about people's health care in the middle of a pandemic," Biden said.
The big picture: Biden said he has not reached out to Senate Republicans to ask them to reconsider holding a confirmation vote before the election, but argued that the consequences will be seen at the ballot box. He declined to address whether he would support expanding the Supreme Court if Democrats take control of the Senate and White House.
Go deeper: Inside the Democrats' strategy for Barrett's confirmation fight
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.