Addressing the conservative faithful crammed into a CPAC ballroom packed to capacity, Trump didn’t even mention his Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch.
The president talked about a host of other issues and aired several grievances during his roughly 50-minute speech. But Trump just never got around to addressing his judicial. To say the least, that was unexpected.
With a mix of bullying and coaxing on the campaign trail, Trump convinced conservatives to join his cause because of the high court. “If you really like Donald Trump, that’s great, but if you don’t, you have to vote for me anyway. You know why?” Trump asked last July. “Supreme Court judges, Supreme Court judges.”
“Have no choice,” Trump continued. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. You have no choice.”
Perhaps no other issue has united Republicans around Trump like the Supreme Court. The possibility of Hillary Clinton naming a nominee to replace the late Antonin Scalia crushed the spirit of the #NeverTrump movement last year. Trump’s pick of Gorsuch brought wayward GOP lawmakers back to the fold. And at CPAC, other speakers won big applause by highlighting Trump’s having kept his court promise.
When Sen. Ted Cruz suggested that Trump could fill “another Supreme Court vacancy this summer,” he brought down the house.
But the president didn’t breathe a word about the court. Whether that was intentional or not, it didn’t matter to the energized crowd. They’ve moved on from the Supreme Court icebreaker, and they’ve warmed to Trump.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
