Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Sunday accused President Donald Trump of rushing to install a new Supreme Court justice to "eliminate the entire Affordable Care Act," known as Obamacare, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, AFP reported.
Trump on Saturday nominated Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a lifetime seat on the top court.
His decision to push her nomination through just weeks before the November 3 election has angered Democrats, who are calling for the decision to be made by the winner of the vote.
Trump and the Republican Party are pushing Barrett's confirmation through because they "see an opportunity to overturn the Affordable Care Act on their way out the door," Biden claimed in a conversation with reporters in Wilmington, Delaware.
He again urged the Senate to delay the confirmation until after the election, noting that early voting had already begun.
"Never before in our nation’s history has a Supreme Court justice been nominated and installed while a presidential election is already underway," said Biden.
"There are Senate Republicans out there who know in their hearts that if you shut out the voice of the people during an election, you are closing the door on American democracy thereafter," Biden continued.
Subverting that "so needlessly... would be an irreversible step toward the brink."
He continued, "The voters will not stand for this abuse of power. And if we are to call ourselves a democracy, their voices must be heard."
Biden’s comments echo ones he made on Saturday night, when he called on the US Senate to refrain from confirming Trump's Supreme Court nominee until after the November 3 election.
"The Senate should not act on this vacancy until after the American people select their next president and the next Congress," Biden said.
Barrett is "a jurist with a written track record of disagreeing with the Court's decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act," the healthcare plan known as Obamacare that was adopted when Biden was vice president, he added in a statement.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Trump expressed confidence about the confirmation in an interview with "Fox & Friends."
"I think we're going to have it done easily before the election," he said. "I think it would be nice to do. Get it out of the way. We have plenty of time."
Senate Democrats have vowed to do what they can to block Trump's nominee, arguing the winner of the 2020 presidential election should have the right to make the lifetime appointment.
If Trump's nominee gets through, Democrats have vowed retaliation should they win control of the Senate in November.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Yom Kippur in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)