“It goes back to (Biden’s) words at the prayer breakfast. How are we going to unify? What is it that we need to do? Well, one of the signals that he can send is putting forth a nominee for the Supreme Court that will — will gain a level of bipartisan support,” Murkowski told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” Sunday during a rare bipartisan interview with Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat of West Virginia.
“And when I say a level, I think it has to be more than just one, because as much as that is, it does not necessarily mean that you have that broader support,” added Murkowski, who represents Alaska.
“And so I want to make sure that the President nominates an exceptional candidate, an exceptional individual,” she said. “And I would be honored to be able to support an exceptional African American woman.”
Manchin, too, endorsed Biden’s historic pledge, telling Tapper: “I think basically the court should represent the makeup of our country. And it’s time for this, it’s time — absolutely time.”
The senator predicted that Biden’s eventual pick will get “60 or more” votes in the Senate.
CNN reported last month that while some Republicans may ultimately back Biden’s pick, a number of GOP Senate sources believe that it would only be a handful at most — underscoring the polarizing nature of the modern Supreme Court confirmation process after years of intense and viciously partisan battles.
This story has been updated with additional details Sunday.