Former Vice President Joe Biden said he would appoint a commission to study the U.S. court system and make recommendations for reform. President Trump looks back to a pre-COVID economy and calls out China as America’s enemy.
Their answers come in separate interviews on CBS News’ “60 Minutes” set to air Sunday — just nine days before the U.S. election.
The interview with Mr. Trump and correspondent Lesley Stahl was taped Tuesday at the White House. The president left the interview early and later threatened to release the White House’s own recording.
The interview with Biden was conducted Monday by “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell in Wilmington, Delaware. Interviews with the running mates, Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, will also be included in the broadcast.
Biden has been under pressure to give his position on so-called “court packing,” a controversial proposal that would add justices to the Supreme Court from its current nine. With the expected confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, Mr. Trump will have added three judges for a potential 6-3 conservative majority.
Biden has avoided the “packing” issue, but told O’Donnell he would appoint a commission to study a range of reforms.
“If elected, what I will do is I’ll put together a national commission of — bipartisan commission of scholars, constitutional scholars, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative. And I will ask them to over 180 days come back to me with recommendations as to how to reform the court system because it’s getting out of whack — the way in which it’s being handled and it’s not about court packing. There’s a number of other things that our constitutional scholars have debated and I’ve looked to see what recommendations that commission might make.”
Biden continued: “There’s a number of alternatives that are — go well beyond packing … The last thing we need to do is turn the Supreme Court into just a political football, whoever has the most votes gets whatever they want. Presidents come and go. Supreme Court justices stay for generations.”
Mr. Trump, facing criticism for his handling of the pandemic, continues to point to strong economic gains — prior to the shutdowns this year.
“We created the greatest economy in the history of our country,” he said when asked for his “biggest domestic priority.”
When challenged on that and pressed for forward looking goals, Mr. Trump said: “To get back to normal. Get back to where we were. To have the economy rage and be great with jobs and everybody be happy. And that’s where we’re going, and that’s where we’re heading.”
When asked by Stahl who was America’s biggest foreign adversary, Mr. Trump singled out China.
“I would say China. They’re an adversary. They’re a competitor. They’re a foe in many ways, but they’re an adversary. I think what happened was disgraceful, should never have happened … They should never have allowed this plague to get out of China and go throughout the world. 188 countries. Should never have happened.”
