Donald Trump’s Supreme Court Nominees

According to columnist Kayleigh McEnany, President Donald Trump would appoint conservative textualists who would make for excellent Scalia replacements.

Kayleigh McEnany

Kayleigh McEnany

The GOP field has had Donald Trump in its crosshairs, launching ruthless attacks and repeatedly mischaracterizing his positions. In no place is this more evident than in the realm of Supreme Court nominations.

Ted Cruz has repeated the following charge endlessly: “We’re one justice away from the Second Amendment being written out. It is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative, he will not invest the capital to confirm a conservative.”

Never mind the fact that Trump supports national right to carry – hardly the proposal of someone bent on eviscerating the Second Amendment!

Contrary to Cruz’s unfounded assumption that Trump would not appoint a conservative to the Supreme Court (and setting aside humorous attempts at a Trump SCOTUS shortlist), Trump has not only named two potential Supreme Court replacements, he has handpicked nominees in the vein of Justice Scalia.

In fact, Trump was the first candidate to name potential Supreme Court nominees in the February 13, 2016 debate that took place on the night of Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing. On that day, Donald Trump said: “We could have a Diane Sykes or a Bill Pryor.” A perusal of these two potential nominees’ records reveals two conservative textualists who would make for excellent Scalia replacements.

Take Judge Bill Pryor of the Eleventh Circuit, an appointee of President George W. Bush. Pryor dubbed Roe v. Wade “the worst abomination in constitutional law in history” and stood by this statement during his confirmation hearing. At another time, he boldly remarked that in Roe, the Supreme Court created “out of thin air a constitutional right to murder an unborn child.” Moreover, he is a staunch defender of federalism and strong on religious liberty, allegedly stating, “I became a lawyer because I wanted to fight the ACLU.”

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The Supreme Court also has not proven immune from Pryor’s criticism. Scrutinizing a capital punishment case, Pryor remarked, “This issue should not be decided by nine octogenarian lawyers who happen to sit on the Supreme Court.”

Nevertheless, Pryor understands the importance of judicial impartiality, stating that “I have a record as [Alabama] attorney general that is separate from my personal beliefs. I am able to put aside personal beliefs and follow the law, even when I strongly disagree with it.”

So strong and steadfast is Pryor that Democrats tirelessly tried to block his nomination, but their efforts were unfruitful.

Likewise, Judge Diane Sykes is equally as fitting a replacement. Sykes is currently a judge in the Seventh Circuit, also appointed by President Bush. Sykes has proven herself to be a staunch conservative judge. She boasts Ezell v. Chicago among her accomplishments – a decision that barred Chicago from banning firing ranges.

Trump’s nominees are impressive by any textualists’ litmus test, and they add teeth to his call for a Scalia-like replacement: “We need a conservative person. I think that certainly we have some great people. We lost one of the greats. I’d like to have the person tailored to be just like Justice Scalia.”

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Nevertheless, the underdogs – both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio – continue to diminish Trump’s conservative credentials at every turn. For instance, Cruz has continually repeated the false accusation that Donald Trump, if elected President, would appoint his sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry of the Third Circuit, to replace Scalia.

Though Trump casually said last year that his sister would make a good Supreme Court Justice, Trump said plainly following the death of Scalia, “I would say total conflict of interest as far as my sister.” Moreover, Cruz completely ignores the fact that Trump has specifically named two Justices he would appoint if the opportunity arose.

But perhaps we should not be surprised since the 2016 campaign has been filled with accusations, mischaracterizations, and oversimplifications with regard to Donald J. Trump.

Earlier: President Trump’s Supreme Court Shortlist: 5 Possible Nominees


Kayleigh McEnany is a conservative writer and commentator who appears regularly on Fox and CNN. She is currently in the third year of pursuing her J.D. at Harvard Law School. Kayleigh graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and also studied politics at Oxford University. You can reach her by email at Kayleigh@PoliticalProspect.com or follow her on Twitter: @kayleighmcenany.