- Trump appointed 3 conservative judges to the Supreme Court, leading to the overturning of Roe v. Wade
- DeSantis said he has 'respect' for those picks, but he could do better.
Former President Donald Trump is the most scandal- and indictment-plagued president in American history and oversaw an administration rife with dysfunction. But even his most strident critics admit that appointing three conservative justices to the Supreme Court was an impressive and historic achievement for Trump, the Republican party, and conservative movement, most significantly because it led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
One prominent Republican who isn't that impressed, though, is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Trump's top rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination told Hugh Hewitt that Trump did fine with his Supreme Court pick but he could do better by nominating ones who are even more conservative.
"Now in terms of the judges that you will bring to bear on this, former President Trump hit three home runs with his Supreme Court appointments. Are you going to make the same kind of pledge to the Republicans as you go around the country that your judges will be like the Trump judges?" Hewitt asked.
"Well, actually, I would say we'll do better than that," DeSantis said. "I mean, I respect the three appointees he did, but none of those three are at the same level of Justices Thomas and Justice Alito. I think they are the gold standard, and so my justices will be along the lines of a Sam Alito and a Clarence Thomas."
He added, "And in Florida, I inherited a very liberal state supreme court, maybe the most liberal in the country, very activist. But I was able to replace three of the four liberals my first month in office with conservative justices. I've since been able to make a number of appointments since then. So we now have the most conservative state supreme court in the country. And so I think we have a really good track record on doing that. And in fact, two of my supreme court picks in my first year of office were elevated to the 11th Circuit by President Donald Trump."
Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett were nominated by Trump during his four years in office, giving the Supreme Court a conservative supermajority.
Alito and Thomas frequently stake out conservative positions, and have pulled the court rightward; it was Alito who wrote the majority opinion gutting the nationally recognized right for a woman to terminate her pregnancy. Thomas is under scrutiny for his failures to disclose luxury trips and financial dealings with a Republican megadonor.
Not long after DeSantis' interview with Hewitt went up, Trump responded.
—Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) June 12, 2023