President Trump put the ensuing fight over the Supreme Court vacancy left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg front and center of his campaign rally on Monday.
Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Swanton, Ohio, Trump declared he would announce his female nominee to the high court in short order — on Friday or Saturday — and attacked Democrats over criticism of Republicans for moving on a nomination so close to the 2020 election.
Trump also knocked Democratic nominee Joe Biden for not releasing a list of potential Supreme Court nominees, claiming that Biden’s choices would be too extreme.
“As our nation mourns the loss of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I will soon announce a nominee for the United States Supreme Court. They say it’s the most important thing a president can do,” Trump told the crowd towards the beginning of the rally, ushering in chants of “Fill that seat.”
Trump mocked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and claimed Democrats want to impeach him again over the Supreme Court fight. Pelosi on Sunday declined to rule out using impeachment to delay the vote on Trump’s nominee in an interview with ABC News.
“Did you hear, today, the latest? They impeached me for a perfect phone call. Now they want to impeach me again if I nominate somebody as I’m constitutionally obligated to do to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,” Trump said. “Go ahead. I want them — I want them to do that.”
“I am the only guy in the world that could get impeached if I try to fill a seat,” Trump said, adding that he would put up an “outstanding” nominee.
House Democrats impeached Trump last December for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, over a phone call during which he asked Ukraine’s president to investigate Biden, his political opponent, and Biden’s son Hunter’s dealings in Ukraine.
On Monday, Trump went on to claim that he will have nominated and confirmed over 300 federal judges and three Supreme Court justices by the end of his first term, an exaggeration given that Trump has thus far seen the Senate confirm 216 of his federal judicial nominees.
Trump asserted that Biden would appoint justices who would “shred” the Second Amendment, remove the words “under God” from the pledge of allegiance, erase U.S. borders and enable crime.
“Biden’s justices will erase borders — they don’t want borders — protect sanctuary cities and compel the unlimited entry of foreign nationals,” Trump told his supporters. “They will cripple police departments, free violent criminals, shield foreign terrorists, and declare the death penalty unconstitutional.”
The remarks represented Trump’s latest effort to paint Biden, a moderate, as supportive of radical policies and a threat to public safety. At one point, Trump insisted he is “the only thing standing in the way between you and chaos.”
Trump is currently trailing Biden nationally and in some key swing states. Recent polls show a tight contest between Trump and Biden in Ohio, a state that the incumbent president won in 2016. The Real Clear Politics average of polls gives Biden about a 2-percentage point edge over Trump.
Trump and his campaign are hoping to energize conservatives with his forthcoming Supreme Court nominee following Ginsburg’s death due to pancreatic cancer last week. At a campaign rally in Fayetteville, N.C., on Saturday, Trump confirmed his nominee would be a woman.
Trump plans to unveil his nominee at the end of the week following Ginsburg’s funeral services. Top contenders for the seat include Judges Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa, both of whom were nominated by Trump to their current positions on the federal appellate bench.
Democrats have accused Republicans of hypocrisy because Senate GOP leaders refused to hold a vote for then-President Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland in 2016 due to the election.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) argues that the current circumstances are different because the same party controls the White House and Senate.