A Fox News poll released Wednesday evening found nearly half of U.S. voters would confirm President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch.
The Feb. 11-13 survey concluded that 49 percent of voters would vote “yes” for the judge from Colorado, while 37 percent would not. The remaining 14 percent did not have an opinion on the Jan. 31 announcement.
The level of support for Trump’s nominee is on par with the amount former President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominees have seen. Only 39 percent approved of Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan in 2010, while 53 percent backed his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor in 2009. John Roberts, George W. Bush’s pick, received support from 51 percent of voters.
The majority of Republicans, 82 percent, said they would vote in support of Gorsuch, while 17 percent of Democrats said the same. The majority of independents — 52 percent — said they would back Gorsuch.
Senate confirmation hearings are expected to start in March. The majority of voters said they disapprove of the statement “Senate Democrats doing everything they can to block Trump’s SCOTUS nominee.” A little more than two-in-five voters said they approve of that claim.
“Democrats are at the very least giving their elected leaders permission to fight Trump’s nominees while many will be demanding they do anything to slow the administration,” Democratic pollster Chris Anderson told Fox News. “And with the sense that blood is in the water after General Flynn’s forced resignation, that demand could increase.”
American voters still overwhelmingly trust the judicial branch more than the executive or legislative branches. Approximately 45 percent bank on the judicial system, while 26 percent said the same about the president and 13 percent felt that way about Congress.
The poll was conducted by Anderson Robbins Research and Shaw & Company Research through landline and cellphone interviews in with 1,013 respondents nationwide. The margin of error for the total group was 3 percentage points.
