Fox Legal Analyst Admits GOP Obstruction Of SCOTUS Nominee Would Be “Unprecedented,” “Might Be A Constitutional Crisis”

Peter Johnson Jr: “This Is About The Survival Of The Republican Party”

From the February 24 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

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STEVE DOOCY (HOST): Well, a major blow to President Obama's plan to nominate a Supreme Court justice replacing Antonin Scalia. Republicans holding firm in the Senate refusing to have any hearings or meetings with any nominee until after a new president is elected.

[...]

DOOCY: So what's the next step? Peter Johnson, Jr. joins us live. Peter.

PETER JOHNSON, JR: Good morning Steve, good morning everyone. This is unprecedented in American history. The Senate of the United States saying we're not going to say hello, we're not going to shake hands. Don't invite him and her over here to the Senate chamber. We're not going to have a hearing. We're not going to vote on it, up or down. We're doing nothing with the nominee that you send over, Mr. President. This has never been done before in American history and they are taking the advice given by Joe Biden in 1992, hypothetically, that you shouldn't take up someone in an election year. Why is this happening?

DOOCY: Right. That's the big question. So, you know, we were talking about this shortly after Antonin Scalia died. And, you know,suddenly the Democrats were saying, well the Republicans aren't going to do anything. They're just the party of no, no, no, no, no. But really, isn't this about the survival of the Republican Party?

JOHNSON: This is about the survival of the Republican Party because the Republican establishment is so concerned that so many Republicans are angry at the party for not standing up to this president over time. And that's something that Senator Harry Reid is going to be taking up because he says this is no longer the party of Reagan. This is no longer the party of Lincoln. This is the party of Trump. This is the party of anger. And so the Republican Party, through Mitch McConnell, is saying we're going to take in what our view is a principled stand and say to this president, no más. Don't send him over here, don't send her over here, we're not going to do to do it because we think that you're wrong in doing it. We think it's a blunt and base political move. Democrats say Republicans are -- have gone off the edge. That this is a constitutional issue that faces the country, and that they are thumbing their nose at the constitution. So we're going to have angry on the right, angry on the left, it's going to play itself out in this presidential campaign. And that's what's going to be happening for the next year going forward in America.

DOOCY: You know, I don't know if you were watching, about 25 minutes ago we had Tony Blair on and we asked him about how the world views our presidential campaign right now, and he said it's the same thing around the world. Everybody is angry at their government. So maybe you're right, maybe if the senators are saying no más, we're not going to do this right now, because we hear the people, and they're steamed, and they want the next guy to pick?

JOHNSON: Mitch McConnell said we have 54 senators, they're not going to vote. We have 11 members of the Judiciary Committee, they're not going to vote, they're not going to hold hearings. Is this a constitutional crisis? In some ways it might be a constitutional crisis. It's a grave political crisis for each party. And voters are going to make a determination in the presidential election. Did the Republican Party do the right thing here, did the Democrat Party do the right thing here with regard to this Senate nomination, because the president will be a sending a name. And the pressure will mount every day when the Republicans refuse to even shake hands or say hello to that presidential nominee.

Previously:

Fox Analyst Rips Republicans Pledging To Block Obama's SCOTUS Nomination Before It's Made

Fox's Neil Cavuto: GOP Would Be “Foolish” To Block Confirmation Hearings For An Obama SCOTUS Nominee

Media Incorrectly Equate Biden's 1992 Comments “Bemoaning Politicization” Of Hypothetical SCOTUS Nomination To GOP's Ongoing And “Unprecedented” Obstruction