Ted Cruz says he would turn down a Supreme Court nomination

You won’t be hearing the words “Supreme Court Justice Ted Cruz” anytime soon.

The Republican senator (TX) respectfully bowed out of consideration after Trump named him as a potential nominee to the Supreme Court, the Hill reported.

Cruz bows out of SCOTUS consideration

The Republican told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Sunday that he would pass on Trump’s “humbling” offer.

“It is deeply honoring. It’s humbling to be included in the list. I’m grateful that the president has that confidence in me,” he said.

“But it’s not the desire of my heart,” Cruz added.

“I want to be in the political fight. I want to be fighting to nominate and confirm three, four, five principled constitutionalist justices,” Cruz continued. “I want to stay fighting right where I am in the U.S. Senate.”

Cruz echoes Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), who said he had “no interest” in the job after Trump floated his name in a list of 20 last week. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR), who was also on the list, said that it’s “time for Roe v. Wade to go.”

Cruz: Bill of Rights in jeopardy

The president’s decision to release a list of potential judges mirrors a similar move in 2016, when he sought to reassure supporters that he would govern as a conservative.

Trump has appointed two Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, shifting the balance of the nation’s highest court rightward, while filling district and appeals courts with scores of conservatives.

Despite that success, Trump’s still under pressure to keep supporters satisfied after decisions earlier this year on illegal immigration and transgender rights prompted an outcry from conservatives, and even Trump himself, who promptly promised to release a new list of potential judges.

Cruz, who has a new book out this fall about the Supreme Court, told Bartiromo that the Bill of Rights will be placed in jeopardy if Joe Biden wins in November, allowing Democrats to add a fifth justice to a reliably partisan bloc.

“If Joe Biden wins, the odds are very high, depending on what appointments he gets, that that four votes will become five votes and the Second Amendment will be erased from the Bill of Rights,” he said. “That’s the stakes of this election, and it’s true on issue after issue.”

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