KINGSTREE, S.C. – Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton weighed in Thursday on reports that President Barack Obama is considering the Republican governor of Nevada to fill the current vacancy on the Supreme Court, saying she hopes he “chooses a true progressive” instead.
Clinton said she respects Gov. Brian Sandoval and acknowledged he’s “done some good things,” but she slammed Senate Republicans for announcing this week that they would not consider any nominee brought forward by the president.
And, following Clinton’s victory in the Nevada caucuses last week, she said her love for the Silver State is still not enough to accept its GOP governor as a potential candidate.
Clinton stressed she wants the president to choose someone committed to voting rights.
“I sure hope the president chooses a true progressive who will stand up for the values and the interests of the people of this country, who understand that you need to protect the right to vote of a person, not the right of a corporation to buy an election,” she said.
Clinton also said the next Supreme Court justice should “understand that we still need the Voting Rights Act to be enforced because too many people are being deprived of their right to vote in this country.”
The former secretary of state often talks about the significance of the next president's Supreme Court picks on the trail.
On Wednesday, in West Columbia, Clinton said: “We must make the Supreme Court a voting issue. Let's put the pressure on the Senate. Let's support the president. Let's see if we can't find a handful of Republicans who understand and will do their duty, who believe they are called by the Constitution to do just that.”
