Biden Nominating Black Woman To Supreme Court Is 'Illegal': Cruz

President Joe Biden’s pledge to nominate a Black woman to Supreme Court is “illegal” and “discriminatory,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has said.

In an interview with “Fox News Sunday,” Cruz said Biden’s plan to only consider a Black woman to replace Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who announced his retirement last month, was an act of racial discrimination.

“What the president said is that only African American women are eligible for this slot, that 94% of Americans are ineligible," Cruz said. "The way Biden ought to do it is to say 'I'm going to look for the best justice,' interview a lot of people, and if he happens to nominate a justice who was an African American woman, then great."

"If Fox News put a posting, we're looking for a new host for Fox News Sunday and we will only hire an African American woman or a Hispanic man or a Native American woman, that would be illegal."

Cruz’s comments echoed arguments made by other GOP senators in recent weeks. However, some members of the Republican Party have also praised Biden’s intention and pointed out a similar vow that former President Ronald Reagan made to nominate the first woman to the Supreme Court. Additionally, former President Donald Trump also promised to only pick a woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020.

"Put me in the camp of making sure the court and other institutions look like America. You know, we make a real effort as Republicans to recruit women and people of color to make the party look more like America," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told CBS News.

Biden is expected to announce his pick by the end of February. Among Breyer's potential replacements, three have emerged as the main contenders. These are Judge J. Michelle Childs, 55, a University of South Carolina School of Law graduate who is currently serving in the U.S. district court in Columbia; California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, 45, a Harvard College and Yale Law School graduate who has been on the state’s high court for seven years; and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, 51, a recent appointee to the U.S. court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit.