Republicans seek to portray Biden's Supreme Court pick as 'radical liberal', although he has yet to chose anyone

• Republicans seeking to stir hostility towards whoever Biden nominates to the Supreme Court.
• Attacks circulating painting his choice as a radical liberal, although nobody has yet been chosen.

Several Republicans eager to attack President Joe Biden painted his choice of Supreme Court nominee as a "radical liberal" on Wednesday, undeterred by the fact that he has not yet picked anybody.

The retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer means that Biden has the chance to name a successor to put forward for confirmation.

Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida was one of those who seemed eager for a fight over the nomination, predicting that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer would whip Democrats to back a "radical liberal with extremist views."

"The Democrats know they will lose the Senate majority in 2022," Scott wrote.

"I predict that Chuck Schumer and whoever is running the White House will force all Democrats to obey and walk the plank in support of a radical liberal with extremist views."

On Twitter, Donald Trump Jr, the eldest son of the former president and a hero for parts of Trump's core support, told the Senate to reject "any of Biden's radical nominees" in a tweet.

Newt Gingrich, a veteran Republican operator and former House speaker, called on senators to block any nominee deemed "radical."

"Republicans should establish two simple tests for Justice Breyer's successor. First they have to be competent. Second they can be liberal but not radical," he tweeted.

Republicans running for office also sought to gain political advantage from stirring opposition to the as-yet-unknown replacement.

Blake Masters, a tech entrepreneur running for the US Senate in Arizona, said that Biden would nominate Drag Race host Ru Paul to the role, in an apparent attempt at humor.

"But seriously, the criteria are certainly not going to be faithfulness to the law or love of our country, the left will agitate for the most insane activist possible who has all the most fashionable identity characteristics," tweeted Masters.

Democrats will also likely seek to galvanize their support ahead of the mid-terms after a series of recent setbacks.

The White House said Wednesday that Biden would honor his promise to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger, and J Michelle Childs were mentioned by commentators as possible choices who would fit that bill.

But Republicans may be confined to hostile rhetoric, as they are powerless to block whoever Biden nominates.

Under Senate rules, Supreme Court nominees need only a simple majority to be confirmed.

This could be achieved by the 50-strong Democratic caucus by itself, relying again on a tie-breaker vote from Vice President Kamala Harris..

However Republicans can set up road blocks and delay the process, and a protracted battle could become a political rallying point, as previous Supreme-Court fights have been in the past.