Conservative group slams SCOTUS nominee: ‘Moderate? Nice try’

A conservative group leading the effort to block President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee is pushing back against Judge Merrick Garland’s moderate image.

{mosads}”Obama and his liberal allies have been working hard to paint Garland as a moderate for the Supreme Court,” a narrator says in an ad from the Judicial Crisis Network released Wednesday. “But there’s no painting over the truth.”

“Garland would be the tie-breaking vote for Obama’s big-government liberalism.”

The ad goes on to say that Garland has a record of opposing gun rights and supporting the Environmental Protection Agency. The narrator also cites a New York Times article that said Garland, if confirmed, would “tip the ideological balance to create the most liberal Supreme Court in 50 years.”

“Moderate? Nice try,” the narrator adds.

Last week, the group announced it would launch a $2 million ad campaign against Garland, targeting Democratic senators in conservative-leaning or swing states.

The ad will be promoted on social media in Washington, D.C., Iowa, New Hampshire, West Virginia, North Dakota, Colorado and Indiana. 

The White House and liberal groups have sought to portray Garland as a centrist, repeatedly pointing to examples of conservatives’ past praise for the judge. 

Just days before Obama announced his nominee, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that the president “could easily name Merrick Garland, who is a fine man.”

–This report was updated at 10:53 a.m.