By Susan Jones
(CNSNews.com) – President Donald Trump said on Monday he thinks Senate Republicans should confirm his Supreme Court nominee before the November election:
So now we have the presidency and we have the Senate, and we have every right to do it, and we have plenty of time. Now, if this took place one day, if we had one day or five days or ten days, I don’t know, maybe you could do it then, but that would start to look a little bit bad, but we have a tremendous amount of time. I mean, far more than other justices, if you look back, you know, than it took for other justices.
We have a lot of time, tremendous amount of time. I think it should be voted on and done before the election. I think that would be good for the Republican Party, and I think it would be good for everybody to get it over with, because it’s always controversial.
And no matter who I pick, no matter how great the intellect, how brilliant the person, and they’re all brilliant with all great intellect, , no matter how incredible the education, they all have incredible education, no matter how good, the Democrats will say this is terrible, this is terrible, no matter what.
Trump told “Fox & Friends” he’s looking at five potential Supreme Court nominees “very seriously,” and he expects to name his choice on Friday or Saturday, out of “respect” for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose memorial services should be over by then.
“We’re looking for somebody who’s brilliant, really understands the law and abides by the Constitution. And a good person. We’re looking for a good person, a person who’s really been somebody that has very, very high moral values,” Trump said.
He said he expects the Senate confirmation process to “go very quickly.”
“We have a lot of time, you know? Especially the people we’re talking about, most of them are young, and they’ve gone through the (confirmation) process very recently. I’m not saying who, but pretty much they’ve all gone through the process very recently, so we’re not going to find so much. They’ve been there for two years, they’ve been there for a year.”
Democrats are warning — some even threatening — Senate Republicans not to confirm a Supreme Court justice until the results of the November election are known. But Trump said he thinks the confirmation should happen before the election:
“Don’t forget, we were put in this position by voters, and we have a lot of time. It’s not like we have two days — we have a lot of time as this goes. Whether it’s before or after – I think it should go — we have a lot of time before, I think it should go before. But whether it’s before or after — I mean, after, we have a lot of time. But I think we should do it before.”
And if the shoe were on the other foot, and Democrats controlled the presidency and the Senate?
“Oh, zero chance that they wouldn’t. They would do it,” Trump said. They wouldn’t even talk about it. They’d say you’re crazy, what, are you crazy?
“And Biden made that statement before, if you go back, …I’m sure he doesn’t remember it, but he made that statement before. So if the shoe was on the other foot, as they say, there would be no chance that they wouldn’t be doing it. They’d be doing it, and they’d be doing it probably a lot faster than we’ll do it.”