The hits keep coming in the battle for No. 2 in the Republican presidential race, with Ron DeSantis casting aspersions on Nikki Haley’s potential Supreme Court Justice picks.
During remarks in Iowa, the Florida Governor warned supporters that Haley would move the Supreme Court to the left with appointments should she become President.
“I could only imagine what somebody like a Haley would do. She would do liberal Justices and that would be a total disaster,” DeSantis told a crowd in Council Bluffs Thursday.
The Governor spoke for more than two minutes about Supreme Court picks, with criticisms of the Donald Trump selection process featuring in his remarks, as he warned about what could happen if Justices less reliably conservative that Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas were picked if they were to “step down.”
“If somebody were to appoint the same (Brett) Kavanaugh-type Justices that Trump did, that would actually move the court to the left because those Justices are to the left of Thomas and Alito. So I will be the one that’s best equipped to be able to put Justices on the court to fill their shoes who are going to rule in the same legacy as not just Thomas and Alito, but also the late Justice Antonin Scalia,” DeSantis promised.
“I give Trump credit for a lot of his Judges. But let’s just be honest, he was taking lists that other people prepared for him. He didn’t necessarily create those lists,” DeSantis added.
In contrast, DeSantis would have “people helping” him with selections, but would be “very much involved with that.”
The Governor previously said Trump’s picks moved SCOTUS to “the left,” and he seems to be doubling down on that take here.
DeSantis has pitched himself as a potential “two-term President,” and he told the Council Bluffs crowd that would make him “able to replace two more Justices,” thus allowing him to “potentially have four picks in an eight year stretch and leave a 7 to 2 conservative court.” He has made that claim previously.
The post Ron DeSantis says Nikki Haley would pick ‘liberal Justices’ for SCOTUS appeared first on Florida Politics – Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government..