Donald Trump on who should succeed Antonin Scalia in Supreme Court: Not my sister
February 15, 2016 in News by RBN Staff
NY Daily News | JASON SILVERSTEIN | Sunday, February 14, 2016, 5:30 PM
DAVID MOIR/REUTERS
Donald Trump said his sister Maryanne Trump Barry (r.) should not be the next Supreme Court justice.
Donald Trump has exactly one suggestion for who should be the next Supreme Court justice: Not his sister.
As speculation swirls over who will fill the seat of Justice Antonin Scalia, Trump on Sunday backed away from his own campaign trail comments about how his judge sibling would be great on the nation’s biggest bench.
“Just so you understand, I said it jokingly,” Trump told “This Week,” referring to past remarks about his older sis, Maryanne Trump Barry.
“My sister’s a brilliant person, known as a brilliant person, but it’s obviously a conflict.”
The raving real estate mogul’s sister is a senior judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She was appointed in 1999 by former President Bill Clinton.
Although she identifies as a Republican, she controversially wrote the majority opinion for Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey v. Farmer, a case that struck down the state’s ban on late-term abortions.
During his presidential run, Trump himself has faced regular scrutiny over his history of supporting abortion rights. He told The New York Times he sought advice from his sister while campaigning — particularly how to handle accusations of misogyny.
Trump teased the idea of appointing his sister in August, when asked byBloomberg Politics who he’d consider for the Supreme Court.
“Oh, my sister’s great,” he said then.
“I think she would be phenomenal. I think she would be one of the best. But frankly, uh — we’ll have to rule that out now, at least temporarily.”
Now he’s saying he’ll have to rule it out permanently.
Speculation started immediately about what will happen to the seat left vacant by Antonin Scalia’s death on Saturday.
“My sister — she happens to have a little bit different views than me, but I said that in a very joking matter, and it was all lots of fun and everything else,” Trump said Sunday.
“I would say total conflict of interest as far as my sister.”
So rest easy, America: At least there’s not a chance of two Trumps taking a lead in federal government.
Trump has overall said little about Supreme Court appointees on the campaign trial, and is one of the few GOP candidates to not yet chime in about who should succeed Scalia.
Other Republicans candidates — including Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Marco Rubio — swiftly insisted that President Obama should not be allowed another appointment.
