Trump suggests Supreme Court nominee would tip panel against Roe v. Wade

President Trump said it’s “possible” his conservative Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett could tip the court against the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion rights by allowing states to decide whether to ban abortion. 

“It’s certainly possible,” he said in response to a question during an interview on “Fox & Friends Weekend” about whether a potential 6-3 conservative-majority court would “rule on a life issue.”

“And maybe they do it in a different way. Maybe they’d give it back to the states. You just don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.

Trump left open the possibility that the court would not necessarily hand over rulings in his favor, given recent decisions by the court that ruled against him.

In one case, two of Trump’s nominees to the court, Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, ruled against the president in a July decision about whether Trump could ignore a subpoena calling on him to release his tax returns.

Gorsuch sided with the court’s liberal justices in another case that declared workplace discrimination against LGBT employees illegal.

“I’ve been surprised by some of the rulings that we’ve already had over the last year. You know, you think you know somebody and then you get rulings federal a little bit different than you think could happen,” Trump said.

“So you never know what’s going to happen. Mostly, I’m looking for somebody that can interpret the Constitution as written. We say it all the time and she (Judge Amy Coney Barrett) is very strong on that. And it’ll be very interesting.”

Trump announced Barrett as his nominee to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Saturday, just over one week after Ginsburg died from complications from pancreatic cancer. 

Senate Republicans are preparing for a speedy process to possibly get Barrett confirmed before Election Day, much to the ire of Democrats who say the next Supreme Court justice should be picked by who wins the presidential race in November.

Trump also said during the “Fox & Friends Weekend” interview that he had not discussed any specific cases when he met with Barrett when considering her nomination.

“I didn’t discuss certain concepts and certain things. And some people say you shouldn’t. I don’t see any reason why you shouldn’t. But I decided not to do it. And I think it gives her freedom to do what she has to do. She has to make rulings. But I think she’s going to make a lot of people very proud,” Trump said.

This story was updated at 9 a.m.