President Donald Trump told a crowd of supporters at a campaign rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina, that he will nominate a woman to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left by the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Friday after a battle with cancer.
“It will be a woman, a very talented, very brilliant woman,” said Trump, who received cheers from the crowd in response to his statement. “We have numerous women on the list. I built this incredible list of brilliant people.”
Trump later tweeted a video containing some of his remarks about filling the vacancy from the North Carolina rally, saying to cheers: “I will be putting forth a nominee next week. It will be a woman.” At a different point during the rally, he praised the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as an inspiration to all Americans, and noted that her relationship with the late Justice Antonin Scalia is a “powerful reminder that we can disagree on fundamental issues while treating each other with decency, dignity, and respect.”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2020
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2020
Trump, who added over a dozen names to his Supreme Court list earlier this week, also called on Biden to release a similar list of people who the Democratic nominee, if elected in November, would nominate to fill a vacancy on the nation’s highest court.
While the president’s list of potential SCOTUS nominees contains several dozen names, his insistence on Saturday that the vacancy would be filled by a woman has narrowed down the lists to twelve people, including:
Amy Coney Barrett, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Allison Eid, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Britt Grant, U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit
Joan Larsen, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Margaret Ryan, former U.S. Court of Appeals for Armed Forces
Diane Sykes, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Bridget Bade, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Barbara Lagoa, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Martha Pacold, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
Sarah Pitlyk, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri
Allison Jones Rushing, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Kate Todd, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President
ABC News, citing “multiple sources familiar with the thinking of the president and his advisers,” reports that Judge Amy Coney Barrett, 48, of Indiana, is considered a front-runner for the vacant seat. Notably, Barrett was one of the finalists when Trump was considering a replacement for Justice Anthony Kennedy, whose seat was later filled by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
According to USA Today, Judge Barbara Lagoa, 52, a recent addition to the list of potential Supreme Court nominees, is considered a “little-known” front-runner. The news agency reports that Trump briefly mentioned her during remarks to reporters on Saturday, saying that he has “heard at length” about her and that she is “highly respected.”
This article has been expanded after publication to include additional information.