The Governor who will fill U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s vacant Senate seat is blasting that body for approving a “leftist” judicial nominee, and is blaming Republicans for not pushing back.
The nominee brings diversity to the appellate bench, but Gov. Ron DeSantis’ objections are ideological.
“This leftist judge would have been voted down and the seat on the important 11th circuit would have been filled by Donald Trump next year had Republicans showed up. Now, the leftist judge will have a lifetime appointment and the people of FL, AL and GA will suffer the consequences,” DeSantis said in a post on the X social media platform.
Senators approved Embry Kidd on a 49-45 vote. But five Republicans missed the vote. That includes Rubio, who is Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, and Vice President-elect JD Vance, who could be a DeSantis opponent in the 2028 Republican Presidential Primary race.
The Governor amplified criticisms from Matt Whitlock for his post, which included assertions that Kidd had “written that laws against child rape are racist” and “hid 2 previous decisions where he gave lenient sentences to child predators from the Senate.”
Kidd is only the second Black man confirmed to an appellate court judgeship in the last decade, as Bloomberg reports. Floridians will get to know him better than most, as he will be based out of Tampa.
A graduate of Emory College and Yale Law School, Kidd became a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the Orlando Division of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on July 25, 2019. Prior to that, he was a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division, where he focused on white collar-crimes and corruption cases, among others.
DeSantis is working to fill the Rubio opening in the Senate, with vetting ongoing now. He has vowed to pick a Rubio replacement within the next couple of months, and said it will be a person who is “aligned with Trump.”
Undoubtedly, though, willingness to show up for votes will be another consideration.
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