Trump on SCOTUS Nomination: ‘Losing an Election Has Consequences’ | Eastern NC Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the The Daily Wire. The author of this post is Joseph Curl.

    As Democrats continue to assert that President Donald Trump should not move forward with a Supreme Court nomination until after the 2020 election, the president said "losing an election has consequences."

    "That means the other side gets to pick Supreme Court justices, judges, it's a big deal," he said Monday on "Fox & Friends." on Monday. "The bottom line is we won the election, we have an obligation to do what's right and act as quickly as possible," Trump said.

    "It sets the tone. I'm very lucky because rarely does a president have this opportunity," he added. "Here I am in one term, I get to pick three."

    With the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday, Trump does indeed have a chance to install three justices on America's highest court. The president so far has nominated, and the Senate confirmed, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

    For the record, President George W. Bush's nominations of Samuel Alito and John Roberts were both confirmed. President Bill Clinton nominated Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, both confirmed, and President George H.W. Bush made two nominations with Clarence Thomas and David Souter, also both confirmed. President Ronald Reagan made the most nominations at five, including Sandra Day O'Connor, the court's first female justice, but his nomination of Robert Bork was rejected by the Senate in 1987.

    In the Fox interview, Trump said he has narrowed his list of potential Supreme Court nominees to five people and he said he would announce his pick by Friday or Saturday, after Ginsburg's funeral service. Over the weekend he also pledged to pick a woman.

    "I think it will be on Friday or Saturday and we want to pay respect, it looks like we will have services on Thursday or Friday, as I understand it, and I think we should, with all due respect for Justice Ginsburg, wait for services to be over," the president said.

    Trump's shortlist reportedly includes Judge Amy Coney Barrett, 48, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; Judge Barbara Logoa, 52 of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit; and Judge Allison Jones Rushing, 38, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, as well as a few others.

    "No matter how you would look at it, these are the finest people in the nation - young people, pretty young for the most part," the president said.

    "These are the smartest people, the smartest young people, you like to go young, because they're there for a long time," Trump said, adding that his nominee would "abide by the Constitution," be a "good person" and have "very, very high moral values."

    Trump also said the final Senate vote for his potential nominee should take place "before the election" and "should go very quickly."

    The president also addressed reports that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) might impeach him to interfere with a high court confirmation.

    "I heard if I [nominate], they're going to impeach me, so they're impeaching me for what constitutionally I have to do," Trump said. "If they do that, we win all elections."

    "If they do it, I think my numbers will go up, I think we'll win the entire election, I think we're going to win back the House, I think we're going to win the House anyway," Trump said.