If you’ve seen anything I’ve written here, you’ll know I’m not a fan of former president Donald Trump. But conservatives need to tip their hat to the man when it comes to his picks for the judiciary. Trump transformed the judiciary for the better and appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, securing a majority on the bench for years to come.
This week we saw the fruits of his appointments fully ripen with the Court handing down a series of excellent decisions, stripping race discrimination of its legal protection, safeguarding our constitutionally ordained system of checks and balances, and fortifying religious liberty.
Some of my fellow right-of-center Trump critics are quick to note that any generic Republican in his position would have made similar appointments to the highest court in the land and that his three nominees, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, have all been “wishy-washy” at times. But a generic Republican didn’t win in 2016, and none of his three picks look like they’ll be pulling a “Souter” any time soon.
I vehemently oppose Trump’s 2024 candidacy. There is no good argument for the GOP’s nominating him for the third time after he’s hurt the party in successive elections. Einstein was right when he said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Nevertheless, credit must be given where credit is due.