Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing set off a political firestorm even bigger than the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation.
President Trump is facing stiff opposition and threats from the Left about filling the vacancy.
But in an unexpected move, Judge Napolitano just fired a shot across Trump’s bow over filling Ginsberg’s seat.
Judge Andrew Napolitano regularly appears on Fox News to often provide a “devil’s advocate” perspective on President Trump that over the last few years has been overly critical.
During the impeachment hearings, Napolitano largely argued that Trump could have been easily impeached and removed from office.
Obviously, he was wrong.
But now, he’s warning President Trump about nominating Ginsberg’s replacement and pushing the Senate to proceed with the confirmation before the election.
Napolitano argued on Fox News that Trump is “playing with fire” and that several GOP members will likely turn on whoever he ends up nominating to the High Court.
“This will be a World War III of political battles. And it will be right in the middle of a presidential election. And it’ll all be aimed at those six vulnerable Republicans, one of whom is going to be front and center. Senator Lindsey Graham himself is running behind in his reelection bid in South Carolina. And if this nomination comes to pass, he’ll be presiding over a few days of Senate Judiciary Committee hearings. And one of the Democrats on that committee is running for vice president with Joe Biden, Senator Kamala Harris. So we are in for some exciting, depressing — however, you want to look at it — times,” Napolitano shared.
While U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are no bulwarks for conservative politics in Congress, Napolitano seems to be assuming they will all vote against the nominee’s confirmation.
Susan Collins has signaled that she won’t vote for whoever President Trump picks, but she’s also in a “damned if I do, damned if I don’t” situation that could ultimately see her go either way at the last minute.
And Lisa Murkowski can’t afford to betray her conservative base in Alaska yet again after voting against Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation back in 2018, as many conservatives expect her to eventually support Trump’s pick.
If just one of those two ends up voting “yes,” the Democrats are going to have a hard time stopping the President from getting a third Supreme Court justice confirmed in just four years.
So Napolitano isn’t simply telling Trump to count his eggs before they hatch, he’s assuming they won’t hatch at all.
This is another instance of Fox News trying to play the “other side” and letting Napolitano’s anti-Trump bias show through.
Political Animal News will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
