Donald Trump Reveals List of Potential Supreme Court Nominees
Donald Trump revealed a list of 11 potential Supreme Court Justice nominees to replace late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia if elected president, the Associated Press reports.
The presumptive GOP nominee’s list includes Iowa’s Steven Colloton, Colorado’s Allison Eid, Missouri’s Raymond Gruender, Pennsylvania’s Thomas Hardiman, Michigan’s Raymond Kethledge, Michigan’s Joan Larsen, Utah’s Thomas Lee, Alabama’s William Pryor, Minnesota’s David Stras, Wisconsin’s Diane Sykes and Texas’ Don Willett.
Trump called the list “representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value,” on his website and noted that he would use the list “as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court Justices.”
The death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February has made the next SCOTUS appointment a hot issue in the election. In March, President Obama tapped Judge Merrick Garland to serve as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in Scalia’s stead. The appointment caused backlash from conservatives. Trump’s list of potential nominees may draw undecided Republican voters back to his campaign if he shows he will appoint a conservative judge.
“I would be surprised if there are any Democrats who would describe any of those 11 individuals as a consensus nominee,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest in a statement.
Trump, known for his social media dominance, didn’t scope out the Twitter account of Justice Willett. The Texan has repeatedly mocked the real estate mogul in meme-heavy tweets, including the ones below.
That time Donald Trump tried to give Kanye my cell number. pic.twitter.com/E5IgQguOOv
— Justice Don Willett (@JusticeWillett) July 22, 2015
“We’ll rebuild the Death Star. It’ll be amazing, believe me. And the rebels will pay for it.”
—Darth Trump pic.twitter.com/y25LADg15J
— Justice Don Willett (@JusticeWillett) April 8, 2016