Donald Trump spent Easter morning on social media, posting an endless string of links to right-wing media stories, reposts of opinions from his supporters, and video clips lavishly praising him. Within the mass, though, were buried multiple links regarding the Supreme Court, and Trump’s plan for it.
With so many posts over such a short time period, it’s impossible to say for certain whether Trump actually read any of the articles, or even the text posts, but there’s an implication of support, especially when he’s quoted in the stories in question.
When more than one pertain to his plan to appoint as many Supreme Court Justices as possible and “build on” his “transformation” of the bench from his first term, it’s a red alert.
One of the articles Trump posted in his Sunday frenzy — perhaps while watching television coverage of President Biden’s Easter celebration at the White House — comes from earlier this month, and cites Trump discussing his “short list” for new justices. According to that Washington Times story:
“I’m going to be putting together a list of judges — great judges — a list of about 20. I think it’s important to reveal who your Supreme Court justices will be,” Mr. Trump told The Times on Tuesday. “There are people who say the list helped me win the election last time.”
Trump is further quoted as saying he’ll be releasing that list before the election and that Biden should do the same.
The same piece quotes Mike Davis, president of the right-wing Article III Project, describing the “transformation of the 5 to 4 left of center court to the 5-to-4 Clarence Thomas court” as Trump’s “most consequential accomplishment” — an opinion that surely crosses party lines, with the partisan difference being whether it was “consequential” for good or for ill.
Trump’s repost of the article included Davis’ quote, as you’ll see below, suggesting that however much Trump read before reposting, he at least saw that bit.
Then Trump shared another story about the Supreme Court, this time a video clip posted by political strategist Garrett Ventry. That clip is of Ventry speaking to Fox News, and he added text quoting his own position from the interview. He wrote:
“President @realDonaldTrump transformed the Supreme Court. The Democrats better buckle up, he’s going to defeat Joe Biden and appoint a lot more judges.”
A lot more judges.
That’s certainly reason for Dems (and women across party lines) to pay attention. They’re not the only ones.
Trump’s big transformation of the Supreme Court has resulted in the overturn of the longstanding Roe v. Wade precedent, and speculation about potentially overturning other precedents, including the 2015 Obergefell ruling that protected the right to marry an individual of the same sex, and even access to contraceptives.
Most Americans don’t agree with it. A 2023 Gallup poll reported:
“According to Gallup’s May 2023 update on Americans’ abortion views, 34% believe abortion should be legal “under any circumstances,” 51% say it should be legal “only under certain circumstances,” and 13% say it should be illegal in all circumstances.”
As for the ruling that overturned Roe, 61% of respondents considered it a wrong move — and that was before some of the major cases we’ve seen since, such as a woman who was denied an abortion despite circumstances that could have endangered her life or health, and had to flee to another state to obtain the procedure.
See Trump’s Easter Supreme Court posts below.
