Jake Tapper Evokes Ruth Bader Ginsburg To Grill Dick Durbin Over Dianne Feinstein Absence

CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday questioned Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) over Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D-Calif.) monthslong absence from the Senate.

And he compared Democrats’ response to their “very ginger and very polite” approach to pushing for the possible retirement of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who didn’t step down even when Democrats controlled the Senate and Barack Obama was president. (Watch below.)

“I mean all due respect, Sir, you and your fellow Democrats were very ginger and very polite when it came to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and not pushing her to retire when you had a Democratic majority in the Senate,” said Tapper, recalling that the liberal justice held onto her job until her death in 2020 at age 87. 

“How’d that work out for you? How’d that work out for Roe v. Wade?”

Some Democrats say Feinstein’s absence from the Senate Judiciary Committee is delaying confirmation of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees. Durbin, who chairs the committee, has asked senators to show “kindness” as Feinstein recovers from shingles.

A New York Times editorial on Friday called on Feinstein to step down. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and other progressive Democrats also have called on Feinstein to resign.

Feinstein, 89, has said she intends to serve out her term, which ends in January 2025.

H/T: Mediaite