President Donald Trump released the names of 20 people he'd be likely to nominate to the Supreme Court of the United States on Wednesday.
If 2020 continues down its godforsaken path and the 45th president is reelected, he may have the chance to nominate a SCOTUS justice.
According to The Hill, Trump read from a list of Supreme Court Justice nominees that included 11th Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz at a press conference in the White House.
Cameron thrust himself into the national spotlight after failing to implement the arrests of the three officers responsible for the March 13 killing of 26-year-old Breonna Taylor. He leveraged the attention on Taylor’s case into a coveted speaking spot at the Republican National Convention.
During his August 25 RNC speech, Cameron mentioned Taylor’s family despite not yet having attained any semblance of justice for the EMT's grieving loved ones.
Whether you are the family of Breonna Taylor or David Dorn, these are the ideals that will heal our nation’s wounds.
— Daniel Cameron (@DanielCameronAG) August 26, 2020
Cameron, endorsed for his role as attorney general by Trump, has only shown minimum interest in discussing Taylor or her case in the past. He joined the president at the White House on June 8 for a discussion surrounding police-community relations and didn’t once mention the 26-year-old once, as Blavity previously reported.
Upon the announcement of the list, Cameron said he was honored to have been included according to The Hill.
“It is an honor to be mentioned by President Trump today. I remain focused on serving the people of Kentucky and delivering on my promise to tackle child abuse, human trafficking, the drug epidemic, and other public safety challenges throughout the Commonwealth,” Cameron said.
"Over the last several years, President Trump and Leader McConnell have worked together to confirm more than 200 federal judges, transforming our judiciary and ensuring the rule of law is upheld for generations,” he continued.
Trump’s Wednesday announcement is the first update to his judicial appointments since November 2017. According to The New York Times, the initial list, which included names like Justice Britt C. Grant of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals and Justice Patrick Wyrick of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma, was released near the conclusion of the 2016 Republican presidential primary.
As of this week, Trump has named 45 potential Supreme Court appointments.
Following the nomination announcement, Hawley tweeted that he was grateful for the president’s nod but declined any such potential nomination.
"I appreciate the President’s confidence in listing me as a potential Supreme Court nominee," he wrote. "But as I told the President, Missourians elected me to fight for them in the Senate, and I have no interest in the high court. I look forward to confirming constitutional conservatives."
I appreciate the President’s confidence in listing me as a potential Supreme Court nominee. But as I told the President, Missourians elected me to fight for them in the Senate, and I have no interest in the high court. I look forward to confirming constitutional conservatives
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) September 9, 2020
With the Presidential Election looming, Trump used the announcement to take a jab at former vice president Joe Biden, whom he said didn’t release any candidates because “they are so far left [they] could never withstand scrutiny."
