Trump was also asked about the statement Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) put out Saturday afternoon (as covered by my colleague
Nick Arama), the reporter asking, “Senator Collins said she’d like to see the next president be the one to nominate the next Supreme Court Justice. What is your reaction to that?” Trump replied (emphasis added):
I totally disagree with her. We have an obligation. We won, and we have an obligation as the winners to pick who we want. That’s not the next president. Hopefully, I’ll be the next president. But we’re here now. Right now we’re here. And we have an obligation to the voters, all of the people, the millions of people that put us here, in the form of a victory, we have an obligation to them, to all of those voters. And it’s a very simple thing. So I would disagree if that’s what she said. That’s not the way I read it. I read it differently. But, if that’s what she said I totally disagree.
President Trump was then asked whether he had a shortlist of potential nominees, and his reply was 100 percent classic Trump:
I have a short list. I’ve had a short list for a while. We added a number of people onto the previous list. We have about 45 altogether. I do, indeed, have a short list. I’ve gotten to know many of them. I think it’s probably – from a legal standpoint, from a sophisticated understanding of the law, from a constitutional standpoint, I think it’s the greatest list ever assembled, and I think that the other side should show their radical left list, and I think you’ll be surprised.
Trump Responds to Susan Collins Statement, Trolls Barack Obama in Response to Garland Whataboutism