Warnings that President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court justice nominee will help overturn a 1973 ruling that legalized abortion is a “scare tactic,” a presidential adviser on judicial issues said Sunday.
In remarks on ABC News’ “This Week,” Leonard Leo, who’s on leave from the Federalist Society to aid Trump in selecting his replacement for retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, said “nobody really knows” about the fate of Roe v. Wade.
“We’ve been talking about this for 36 years, going all the way back to the nomination of Sandra O’Connor,” Leo said. “And after that 36 year period, we only have a single individual on the court who has expressly said he would overturn Roe. So I think it’s a bit of a scare tactic and ranks speculation more than anything else.”
He also dismissed criticism surrounding the list of possible SCOTUS nominees.
“Every potential nominee before announcement gets concerns expressed about them by people who might ultimately support them,” he said, adding that he’s confident Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., "can get anybody confirmed."
“My goal, first and foremost, has always been to find people to serve on the court who believe in the constitution as it’s written,” he said. “And that’s really ultimately what drives the conservative legal movement…I’m very confident with this president’s enthusiasm and with Leader McConnell’s enthusiasm that they can get anybody confirmed.”
Trump is scheduled to announce his pick Monday night, and is expected to choose from a pre-existing list of 25 candidates. Trump reportedly conducted interviews last week with at least seven candidates.
Trump's shortlist is thought to include federal appeals judges Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Raymond Kethledge.
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