NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Billionaire real estate mogul and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump said on Saturday that he would consider nominating an Alabamian to the U.S. Supreme Court to succeed legendary Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away at his Texas ranch earlier in the afternoon.
Trump said the Republican-controlled Senate should block President Barack Obama from nominating a liberal to succeed Scalia, adding that “We could have a Bill Pryor.”
Judge William “Bill” Pryor, Jr. is currently a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a Mobile, Alabama, native and served as Alabama Attorney General from 1997 to 2004, succeeding now-U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions.
Pryor is an icon in conservative legal circles and has already enjoyed a distinguished legal career, including stints as Alabama’s deputy attorney general and attorney general before being nominated to the Eleventh Circuit by President George W. Bush in 2003.
Senate Democrats initially filibustered Pryor’s nomination and criticized him for being an “extremist” after he referred to the Supreme Court as “nine octogenarian lawyers” and called Roe v. Wade the “worst abomination in the history of constitutional law.”
President Bush ultimately installed Pryor as a federal judge through a recess appointment. He was eventually confirmed by a vote of 53-45.
Note: This story may be updated with additional information.
