White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to say Monday whether President Donald Trump would select a nominee to fill Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s seat who would overturn Roe v. Wade.
“As the President said last week, he’s not going to talk to judges about specific cases,” Sanders said during the daily press briefing, asked if the President was “still committed to appointing pro-life judges.”
“He’s looking for individuals that have the right intellect, the right temperament and that will uphold the constitution,” she said.
Sanders added, asked whether Trump believed Roe to be “settled law:” “The President is not going to get into asking the candidates about specific cases, but he’s looking for somebody that meets those qualifications that I just outlined.”
However, Trump said during the presidential campaign that he would nominate judges who would overturn Roe, and he said in an interview aired Sunday with Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro that he is “putting conservative people on” the Supreme Court, and that the question of abortion rights “could very well end up with states at some point.”
Sanders stonewalled again later: “Would the President like to see Roe v. Wade overturned?” MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson asked.
“Once again,” Sanders began, “I’m not going to get into any specifics that we would be looking at—”
Jackson clarified that she wasn’t asking about Trump’s nominee selection process, but rather his own personal beliefs.
“Again, as this is ongoing, I’m not going to weigh into anything specific at this point,” Sanders said.
