New Dem ads: GOP leaving Supreme Court seat open for Trump

Democrats on Friday launched a pair of web ads accusing vulnerable GOP senators of obstructing President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee so that Donald Trump can select someone else if he wins the White House.

“The GOP wants Trump to pick the next Supreme Court nominee?” the Facebook and Twitter spots ask.

{mosads}The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is launching the attacks amid heated debate over Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland.

Obama nominated Garland earlier this month, setting off an election-year battle over the court.

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s GOP members have vowed they will not hold confirmation hearings for Garland, arguing Obama’s successor should pick the next Supreme Court justice instead.

“Republican senators and candidates have already let Trump take over their party, and now they’re ready to let him take over the Supreme Court too,” said DSCC spokeswoman Lauren Passalacqua in a statement.

“Republicans are refusing to carry out their basic constitutional responsibilities and voters back home are putting them on the spot, calling them out for unprecedented shutdown and not doing their jobs. As they continue to double down on their obstruction, the DSCC will continue highlighting their efforts to let Donald Trump pick the next Supreme Court justice.”

The DSCC’s new ads stem from its “Party of Trump” campaign, which links at-risk GOP lawmakers with Trump’s Oval Office bid.

The initiative’s website mocks vulnerable Senate “ReTrumplicans,” for example, who have promised they would back the outspoken billionaire as their party’s presidential nominee.

Obama selected Garland to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died last month.

Trump leads the Republican presidential field by nearly 13 points nationwide, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls. He has repeatedly vowed he would handpick a staunch conservative should he select the next Supreme Court justice.