President Donald Trump is considering "superficial" aspects of a potential Supreme Court nominee's profile, including the person's possible effect on his base, the look and feel of his family, the candidates' appearance, and where they received their law degree, Politico reports.
Many conservatives have been delighted with Trump's first Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, and want the president to pick a similar candidate. Trump was delighted with Gorsuch's seemingly picture-perfect relationship with wife Marie Louise, and requested she stand with her husband during his nomination speech.
"Beyond the qualifications, what really matters is, does this nominee fit a central casting image for a Supreme Court nominee, as well as his or her spouse," a Republican close to the White House said. "That's a big deal. Do they fit the role?"
Trump plans to announce his choice to fill retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy's seat July 9. The new justice would set the court's balance at five Republican-appointed judges and four Democratic-appointed judges.
Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh are front-runners.
The president is intrigued with selecting Barrett, an alumnus of Rhodes College and Notre Dame Law School, as the first female conservative Supreme Court justice, according to CNN, but she performed poorly in her interview with Trump.
Kavanaugh, who graduated from Yale Law School, has excellent credentials and a strong reputation in conservative legal and political circles. But his wife is close to George W. Bush's family, and Trump is not too high-strung on that connection.
"There's a primary and there's a general election, and what helps you in one often hurts you in another," David Lat, the founding editor of the legal news site Above The Law, told Politico. "Right now, the surrogates for all of these candidates know their audience is the base and the White House."
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