President Barack Obama was candid Thursday when asked about the diversity his Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland, would bring to the high court.
In response to the question from a University of Chicago Law School student, Obama jokingly responded that Garland was from Skokie, Illinois.
“The way I’ve thought about diversity is not to think about any single seat as ‘I’ve got to fill this slot with this demographic,'” he elaborated. “But rather if I’ve got a broad set of nominees to make, and this is true across the board, how do I make sure that I’m intentional throughout that process so that the talent of every American, and every potential candidate, gets a fair look.”
Obama said he was committed to appointing a diverse group of judges to federal courts and noted that he’d appointed more women, minority and LGBT judges during his time as President than his predecessors.
“But at no point did I say oh you know what — I need a black lesbian from Skokie in that slot. Can you find me one?” Obama said to laughter. “That’s just not how I’ve approached it.”
Obama has received some flack, particularly from black women’s groups, over picking Garland, a 63-year old white man, to replace late Justice Antonin Scalia. He noted that prior to nominating Garland, he nominated two women, Elana Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, who is Hispanic, to the high court.
“Yeah he’s a white guy, but he’s a really outstanding jurist,” Obama said of Garland. “Sorry. I think that’s important.”
