Trump Reveals Who He Would Nominate to the Supreme Court

By Kenrya Rankin May 18, 2016

As the Obama Administration pushes the Senate to hold a hearing on the president’s nominee to the Supreme Court, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee released his own list of potential SCOTUS replacements for Antonin Scalia. Per The Daily Beast, there are no people of color on the list, which was released today (May 18.

In a statement posted to his campaign website, Donald Trump said:

Justice Scalia was a remarkable person and a brilliant Supreme Court justice. His career was defined by his reverence for the constitution and his legacy of protecting Americans’ most cherished freedoms. He was a justice who did not believe in legislating from the bench and he is a person whom I held in the highest regard and will always greatly respect his intelligence and conviction to uphold the constitution of our country. The following list of potential Supreme Court justices is representative of the kind of constitutional principles I value and, as president, I plan to use this list as a guide to nominate our next United States Supreme Court justices.

The people Donald Trump would consider nominating to the bench if elected president are as follows: Steven Colloton of Iowa, Allison Eid of Colorado, Raymond Gruender of Missouri, Thomas Hardiman of Pennsylvania, Raymond Kethledge of Michigan, Joan Larsen of Michigan, Thomas Lee or Utah, William Pryor of Alabama, David Stras of Minnesota, Diane Sykes of Wisconsin and Don Willett of Texas.

Interestingly, Willett has been publicly dismissive of Trump:

 

GOP lawmakers have already expressed support for the Trump’s list. “It’s reassuring for conservatives to know what he’ll be looking for were he elected president,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) told CNN. “Obviously, he’s never been in a position to make appointments like a governor and others who have been in an executive position. He’s been a businessman, and so I think this does provide some reassurance and conservatives will find it encouraging.”

Meanwhile, Brad Woodhouse of progressive organization Americans United For Change—which has been vocal in the campaign to pressure the Senate to confirm Merrick Garland to the empty SCOTUS seat—issued a scathing response to the announcement:

It doesn’t matter who Donald Trump says he would consider for an appointment to the Supreme Court because that person would be making a deal with the devil. Donald Trump’s litmus test would require a potential justice to support policies like banning all Muslims from the U.S., torturing or killing the family members of suspected terrorists, throwing women in jail for getting an abortion and rounding up and deporting Mexican immigrants. If anyone thinks Donald Trump would not require any potential justice to the high court to pledge allegiance to his extreme, dangerous and divisive policies, then they are crazier than he is.