Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders voiced concerns about President Obama’s Supreme Court nomination in an interview with MSNBC late Thursday.
The Vermont senator called Judge Merrick Garland “probably not the most progressive pick that he could have made … but I will strongly support the president’s selection of Judge Garland,” Sanders told Rachel Maddow.
The self-described Democratic socialist said if elected to the Oval Office he would have wanted to have nominated a justice instead of allowing Obama to do so. Sanders added that he would go as far as asking Obama to withdraw his nomination if he wins the presidency so that he can recommend a nominee that is “loud and clear” about reversing the Citizens United Supreme Court decision.
But Sanders quickly redirected his remarks to defending the president’s position on the issue.
“The idea that the president should not be able to make a nomination is totally absurd. I will do everything I can to see that there is hearings and a vote takes place and that Garland becomes seated on the Supreme Court,” Sanders said.
