UPDATE: At a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Saturday, President Trump said he will be putting forward a woman nominee for the Supreme Court next week.
ORIGINAL STORY:
On Saturday, President Trump talked to reporters about his Supreme Court nominee, saying the nominee will likely be a woman.
In agreement with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), President Trump said he may pick a nominee to go before the Senate as early as this coming week.
"I agree with the statement put out by Mitch McConnell," the president said before departing for a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Saturday afternoon. "I agree with it, actually, 100 percent. I put out a very similar statement as you saw. So I think we're going to start the process extremely soon, and we'll have a nominee very soon."
The president said the nominee will "most likely" be a woman.
"I could see most likely it would be a woman," Trump told reporters. "Yeah, I think I could say that. ... if somebody were to ask me now, I would say that a woman would be in first place. The choice of a woman I would say would certainly be appropriate."
And who might that woman be? According to multiple reports, Amy Coney Barrett is seen as the current frontrunner. Other likely contenders include Barbara Lagoa and Allison Jones Rushing. All of these women currently serve on the federal appellate bench.
The decision will likely be made in the coming days as the president and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have both expressed a desire to present a nominee as early as next week.
"We have an obligation as the winners to pick who we want," the president said.
Rather than citing the Constitution, Democrats are pointing to unwritten "rules" they themselves don't follow, threatening violence, and threatening to pack the Supreme Court should Biden and Senate Democrats take control in November.
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