Trump Defends Picking SCOTUS Replacement So Close to General Election: ‘Consequences of Losing an Election’
President Donald Trump fielded questions from the assembled press on the White House lawn Saturday evening. He addressed the suddenly vacant Supreme Court Justice seat after Friday’s death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Trump was asked why nominating and appointing a new justice just seven weeks away from a general election is different than Merrick Garland’s nomination in the last year of President Obama’s second term, Trump explained that it was the “consequence of losing an election.”
Garland’s nomination was controversially blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who famously noted that a Supreme Court justice should be decided by the American people vis-a-vis the 2016 general election.
A reporter asked President Trump over the din of a nearby Marine One, “Why should your pick get a chance to move forward in an election year?” Trump replied, “well, that’s called the consequences of losing an election. He lost the election. He didn’t have the votes.” Trump was most certainly making reference to the GOP keeping the Senate majority during the 2018 midterm elections. “When you lose an election, sometimes, things don’t work out well.”
He then added, “I have to say this. Judge Garland is highly respected. I have a lot of respect for him. I do. I have a lot of respect for him. But it’s the consequences of an election.”
Trump also revealed that his nomination would most likely go to a woman and that he intended to put forth a candidate in the next seven days.
Watch above via CNN.
