Flashback: Limbaugh foresaw Sotomayor pick in ’97

Rush Limbaugh all but predicted 12 years ago that Sonia Sotomayor was headed to the Supreme Court.

In 1997, when President Bill Clinton nominated Sotomayor to become a U.S. Circuit Court judge, Limbaugh urged Senate Republicans to block her confirmation.

The conservative radio host said, on the day of Sotomayor’s confirmation hearing, Sept. 30, 1997, that she was extremely liberal and was on a “rocket ship” to the high court, according to a 1998 New York Times story on GOP efforts to stop her confirmation.

The Times suggested that Limbaugh’s Supreme Court warning was a key reason why GOP senators delayed a floor vote on her nomination for months even after several Republicans on the Judiciary Committee supported her.

Sotomayor was confirmed later in 1998. She received backing from 25 Senate Republicans, including seven who are still serving.