Donald Trump said Saturday that the GOP leaders who have said they won’t support him as their nominee will cost Republicans the election and ensure Democrats tilt the Supreme Court to the left.
“That is a total wipeout for conservatives,” Mr. Trump said at a press conference after his victories in Louisiana’s primary and Kentucky’s caucuses.
For his own part, Mr. Trump vowed he would make Republicans happy by appointing a “conservative, great judge” to the court as president.
The billionaire businessman’s bid for the GOP nomination has scared party insiders who object to Mr. Trump’s rhetoric and fear his lack of deep ties to the party apparatus.
Earlier this week, 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney, himself a multimillionaire businessman who accepted Mr. Trump’s endorsement in that race, turned on the wealthier man. Mr. Romney said Mr. Trump would be a risk to national security and would send the economy into a recession with his vow to write tougher trade deals.
Mr. Romney said he cannot support Mr. Trump if he’s the GOP nominee — a stance others, including most notably Sen. Ben Sasse, Nebraska Republican, have also embraced.
Mr. Trump said if they do follow through on their threat to try to recruit an independent challenge, it will kneecap the GOP and ensure Democrats make the next Supreme Court pick.
“If they run a third party or an independent party, if they do that, it will make it impossible for the Republican candidate,” he said.
The Supreme Court currently has a vacancy after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Republicans have said they’ll deny President Obama a chance to win a replacement, pushing the decision off until the next president takes office.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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