DENVER — Donald Trump isn’t your standard conservative Republican, but on one issue he did his best to sound like one while addressing the Western Conservative Summit on Friday: judges.
Trump’s biggest applause lines with this socially conservative crowd came when he talked about appointing judges who will uphold the Constitution.
The presumptive Republican nominee pointed to his list of possible Supreme Court nominees, which was well received by conservatives (even if some expressed skepticism about whether the businessman would really follow through on nominating them as president). He emphasized the role the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation played in assembling that list.
There is already a vacancy left by the death of conservative stalwart Antonin Scalia that could potentially swing the court over to the liberal bloc. Other retirements seem likely in the next four to eight years.
“We’re going to appoint at least three,” Trump said. He argued Republican-appointed judges make the difference between being a “great country” or “Venezuela.”
For conservatives who are otherwise reluctant to support him but believe him on this count, this is frequently what seals the deal. A Supreme Court dominated by Hillary Clinton’s appointees genuinely could shut off a lot of social issues conservatives care about from democratic debate, perhaps for decades.
Not everyone believes Trump, however. Why?
For starters, even Republican presidents with a far stronger conservative pedigree than Trump have been unreliable. Just going by Roe v. Wade, Richard Nixon appointed Harry Blackmun, the justice who gave us the decision. Gerald Ford named pro-Roe John Paul Stevens. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush named some anti-Roe justices, but Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy and David Souter all affirmed the ruling.
George W. Bush’s initial choice of Harriet Miers and rumored desire to nominate Alberto Gonzales might have been sound on Roe but conservatives had other misgivings. Even John Roberts looks a bit more like a mixed blessing after the key Affordable Care Act decisions.
Bottom line: If you can’t be sure Reagan will get it right, why bet the farm on Trump?
The next problem is Trump’s lengthy silence after Monday’s Supreme Court ruling against Texas’ abortion clinic regulations. This was an opportunity to reaffirm his pro-life and strict constructionist bona fides. For whatever reason, he didn’t take it.
When Trump finally did weigh in, he got an important detail wrong. He suggested that if he had picked Scalia’s replacement, the outcome of the court’s Texas ruling would have been different. But it was a 5-3 decision.
Even if Trump had picked a conservative judge or Scalia was still alive to vote on the case, the liberal side would have won 5-4. Maybe it was a meaningless slip like Barack Obama and the 57 states, but it doesn’t convey that Trump cares deeply about these issues and will pay close attention to them.
Finally, while Trump is not the most convincing social conservative, he at least tries. He’s never really pretended to be a constitutionalist, which is ultimately what authentic conservatives most want in staffing the judiciary.
By saying the right things on judges, Trump is getting a respect hearing from forums like the Western Conservative Summit. In a race against Clinton, he’ll probably get the overwhelming majority of attendees’ votes. He still clearly has some work to do, however.
