Most people would rather have President Obama nominate a new Supreme Court justice than leave it in the hands of Donald Trump.
According to a new Public Policy Polling poll, 38 percent of voters nationwide trust Trump, the presumed Republican presidential nominee, to nominate a Supreme Court justice, and 53 percent don’t trust him.
Only 57 percent of voters in the GOP trust Trump to make a selection, while more than 80 percent of Democrats don’t trust him with the responsibility.
Americans are more inclined to have Obama or Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton fill the Supreme Court vacancy. When asked who should do it, Obama beats Trump 53-37, and Clinton tops Trump 52-37.
Obama nominated D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court vacancy roughly two months ago, but Senate Republicans have refused to even hold a hearing on him, a reaction most people don’t support.
Fifty-eight percent want the vacancy to be filled this year, up two points since March. Even if it isn’t necessarily to approve Garland, 65 percent of voters think the Senate should at least have hearings on his nomination. Half of voters are also less likely to vote for a senator who opposed having confirmation hearings.
The poll of 884 registered voters was conducted May 4-5 and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.
