Donald Trump says he might appoint nine more Supreme Court justices: Trump’s appointment of three Supreme Court justices in his single term has led to a series of landmark conservative decisions. Trump said this week that he has even bigger plans if he gets a second term.
What Did Donald Trump Say Now?
After several presidents in a row, including those who served two terms, appointed exactly two Supreme Court justices each, Donald Trump managed to put three justices on the court in his four years as president.
It wasn’t quite under traditional circumstances, as Senate Republicans kept one seat open for a year, and Trump was able to make a third appointment in his final weeks as president, following the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
The court, with Trump’s three appointments, has issued a series of landmark conservative decisions, on affirmative action and other issues. And now, Trump is proposing even more, should he gain another term as president.
According to Rolling Stone Trump, speaking over the weekend at the Moms For Liberty conference in Philadelphia, made clear that if he becomes president again, he’s not done appointing conservative justices.
Would Donald Trump ‘Pack’ The Supreme Court?
“Many presidents never get the opportunity to appoint a Supreme Court justice. I had three. They are gold,” Trump said in his speech, per Rolling Stone. “Maybe we’ll get three or four more. Can you imagine?.. Let’s have seven or eight or maybe even nine.”
To appoint that many justices would imply several vacancies, and it’s not clear how those would come about. Unless Trump is considering “packing” the court and adding additional justices, that’s been an idea more associated with Democrats in recent years, and not with Trump himself.
The Moms for Liberty conference, which also featured appearances by Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and other presidential candidates, was met with major protest in Philadelphia, which led to six people being arrested. One Democratic candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had been scheduled to appear at the event but dropped plans to speak.
Moms For Liberty was founded in 2021, in part in opposition to COVID-19 restrictions, but the group has also been associated with seeking to keep discussion of LGBTQ issues out of classroom settings.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has deemed Moms For Liberty a hate group, describing them as “a far-right organization that engages in anti-student inclusion activities and self-identifies as part of the modern parental rights movement. The group grew out of opposition to public health regulations for COVID-19, opposes LGBTQ+ and racially inclusive school curriculum, and has advocated books bans.”
Beyond the forum, LGBTQ issues surfaced in the Republican race over the weekend in an odd way.
A bizarre video posted to Twitter by the DeSantis War Room, a Twitter account affiliated with DeSantis’ campaign, mocked Trump for not being sufficiently anti-gay and anti-trans.
“To wrap up ‘Pride Month,’ let’s hear from the politician who did more than any other Republican to celebrate it,” the caption says; it was posted on June 30.
The video, which appears to have been made by a fan and distributed by the DeSantis War Room account, begins by mocking Trump for pledging to protect LGBTQ rights and selling LGBTQ merchandise, and for stating that he would allow Caitlyn Jenner to use whichever bathroom she chooses while visiting Trump Tower.
It then suddenly pivots to images of DeSantis, along with headlines about the governor of Florida signing LGBTQ legislation. Also featured are images, for some reason, of Brad Pitt in “Troy,” Leonardo DiCaprio in “The Wolf of Wall Street” and Christian Bale in “American Psycho,” a movie in which he portrayed a serial killer.
The video was mocked, both for its virulent homophobia and for seeming to appeal only to an extremely specific sliver of 4Chan-associated people. And also for juxtaposing DeSantis, repeatedly, with shirtless men.
“Weird thing is the first half of this ad is pure gay/trans bashing but then shifts into a kind DeSantis Full Official Beefcake/He Man weirdness. Are Ron and RFK jr gonna do some gonzo scenes together?,” journalist Josh Marshall tweeted.
Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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