Hoping to shift the public’s attention from his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, Presidente Donald Trump quickly moved to make the new Supreme Court vacancy a central issue in his reelection campaign, announcing Saturday he would name a replacement for the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg next week “and it will be a woman.”
Triunfo, who had been facing a potentially historic deficit with women voters in part because of their disapproval of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, addressed Ginsburg’s death moments after he stepped on stage at his campaign rally in Fayetteville, Carolina del Norte, Saturday night, calling her “a legal giant” cuyo “landmark rulings, fierce devotion to justice, and her courageous battle against cancer inspire all Americans.”
As the crowd began chanting “Fill That Seat!” Trump said he had not made a final choice but was inclined to choose a woman — and then, with a theatrical flourish and no hint of irony, took a snap poll of the crowd to gauge whether they preferred a man or a woman to fill the seat of a justice who was an equal rights icon.
“It will be a woman, a very talented, very brilliant woman,” Trump said, after the crowd overwhelmingly cheered for a female nominee. “I haven’t chosen yet, but we have numerous women on the list.”
For months, Democratic nominee Joe Biden has outpaced him by double digits among female voters. And as Trump has watched his numbers erode among White suburban women — he clumsily attempted to appeal to the “suburban housewives of America” with his law-and-order message — Trump seemed delighted Saturday night to have the opportunity to talk about elevating a female nominee to the highest court, noting at one point that he liked women better than men.
Earlier Saturday, as he left the White House for North Carolina, he was asked about two top female contenders who were on the list of more than 20 potential nominees that he released in an effort to excite his base earlier this month, before Ginsburg’s death.
During that back-and-forth with reporters, Trump called Judge Amy Coney Barrett, who serves on the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and was a clerk for the late Justice Antonin Scalia, “very highly respected.”
The President also called Judge Barbara Lagoa, whom he appointed to the 11th US Circuit of Appeals in 2019, “an extraordinary person” and noted that she is Hispanic. Lagoa was the first Hispanic woman and the first Cuban American woman to serve on the Supreme Court of Florida before moving to the 11th Circuit.
“I’ve heard incredible things about her. I don’t know her. She’s Hispanic and highly respected. Miami,” Trump said, seeming to simultaneously tick off Lagoa’s qualifications and how they could align with his election priorities, which include boosting his numbers in the Latinx community and winning in Florida.
As Trump sought to fire up conservative voters on the campaign trail with an opportunity to fortify the conservative majority on the nation’s highest court, a fierce battle sobre the timing and speed of the nomination process was unfolding between Republican and Democratic leaders in Washington.
The President told supporters Saturday night that making a swift choice was part of his “moral duty,” stopping himself at one point from criticizing the comments of Su. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, who said in a statement Saturday that she does not believe it would be appropriate to hold a vote on Trump’s nominee before the election given that the vacancy occurred so close to November 3.
“Article 2 of the Constitution says that the President shall nominate justices of the Supreme Court. I don’t think it can be any more clear, can it?” Trump asked the crowd. “We have plenty of time.”
He mocked Democrats for suggesting the vote on his nominee should be delayed until after the election, ignoring the party’s argument that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell set a precedent by refusing to grant an up-or-down vote on then-President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in 2016.
“That’s called the consequences of losing an election,” Trump said of Democrats, even though Obama appointed Garland in March of 2016, algunos 10 months before he vacated the White House.
The sense of urgency to move quickly on Ginsburg’s replacement is a priority not just for Trump, but also for Republicans more broadly who hope the nomination fight could re-energize the base and who believe that holding the Senate would be their best defense against a Democratic White House should Biden win. Before Ginsburg’s death, the disapproval even among some GOP voters of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic was widely believed to be creating a drag on some GOP senators facing tough reelections.
Republicans now have an opportunity to re-engage some of their disaffected voters by pointing to Trump’s extensive efforts to reshape the judiciary. When Trump released a list of more than 20 potential Supreme Court nominees earlier this month, he had appointed 205 federal judges, including two Supreme Court nominees, according to a spokeswoman for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
mientras tanto, Democrats were strategizing about what levers of power they may hold to drag out the confirmation process — and what they’ll do if they win the majority in November.
During a call with Senate Democrats on Saturday, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said “nothing is off the table for next year” if McConnell and Trump move ahead with the confirmation vote this year, alluding to institutional changes that Democrats could make, including doing away with the filibuster and pursuing legislation to expand the Supreme Court.
“We basically have kept options open,” Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin told CNN’s Ana Cabrera on “Newsroom” Saturday night.
“We’d rather see this go through the regular process that Senator McConnell announced four years ago,” Durbin said. At that time, the Illinois Democrat said, Republicanos “stepped forward and said that we believe in this approach: We don’t fill vacancies on the Supreme Court in the last year of a president’s term.”
