Conservatives have mixed opinions regarding President Trump’s pick to the Supreme Court: Brett Kavanaugh. While some feel Trump picked a man of worthy credentials, others feel he shelved the best candidate — Amy Coney Barrett — in the name of appealing to the D.C. establishment, especially in light of Kavanaugh’s relationship to the Bush family.
One such conservative who feels Trump bowed to the establishment is former GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum, who told Chris Cuomo on CNN that Trump had an opportunity to energize his base and instead threw cold water over it.
“I think that Donald Trump said he was going to energize the base with this pick. I don’t think he did that,” Santorum told Cuomo.
Santorum said that Trump’s base was largely “turned off” by Kavanaugh due to being part of President George W. Bush’s legal team. To them, the pick is not a MAGA moment.
“He is from Washington. He is the establishment pick. He is the Bush pick,” Santorum said.
“It just seems like Trump in this case just bowed to the elite in Washington and I think that’s going to rub a lot of people the wrong way,” said Santorum. “I don’t think it’s going to be a game-changer, but I think it’s not a, ‘Yeah, let’s go get them’ kind of moment for Trump.”