Biden says he prayed for Ginsburg in church this morning, and spoke to her daughter and granddaughter last night.
Biden then cites the Jewish tradition that a person who dies on the eve of Rosh Hashana is considered a soul of great righteousness.
Biden says wait on a confirmation vote "not as a personal service to her, but as a service to the country, our country, at a crossroads. ... Right now our country faces a choice: the choice about whether we will come back from the brink."
"I'm not being naive. I'm not speaking to President Trump who'll do whatever he wants. I'm not speaking to Mitch McConnell," Biden says "I'm speaking to those Rs out there, Senate republicans who know deep down what is right for the country and consistent with the Constitution."
Biden says if Trump gets his way and Obamacare is overturned by a new majority in the Supreme Court, that lung scarring and other lasting damage from COVID will become "the next deniable preexisting condition"
Biden says: "President Trump has already made clear: this is about power. Pure and simple power. The voters should make clear on this issue that the power in this nation resides with them: the American people, the voters."
Biden lays out his gambit: If Trump wins, he will support the Senate moving swiftly on his nominee. If he wins, he wants to see the nominee withdrawn.
Action and reaction, sorrow and frustration, anger, Biden says, if the Ginsburg seat is filled now: "That's the cycle that Republican senators will continue to perpetuate. We need to deescalate, not escalate. ... Please follow your consciences."
Biden says he's not releasing a Supreme Court nominee list, as Trump campaign has demanded, b/c he's not playing their "game." He says this is to prevent potential corruption, not subject options to attacks, and b/c he doesn't want to make a choice based on a partisan campaign.
Biden says "if we go down this path, I predict it will cause irreversible damage." He calls Trump an "infection" on American democracy that needs to be stopped.
"How we talk to one another matters. How we treat one another matters," Biden says. "This nation needs to come together."
Biden says Trump wants to divide Americans.
"I will not be that president. ... We need to rise to this moment."
The Biden strategy on Court battle is to leave the politics to the Democratic base, and the fighting to Congress, while he tries to be the centering, uniting force--to try to win over voters between now and 11/3, and to lay foundation for what he wants to be in the White House
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