President Trump Suggests Ted Cruz For SCOTUS, Cruz Would Rather Continue Fight in the Senate, Says Trump Should Nominate Pick Next Week

The Washington Times has more on President Trump's endorsement of Ted Cruz:

President Trump touted Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas for the Supreme Court on Friday night at a campaign rally, unaware that news of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death became public while he was on the stage.

“I’m putting Ted Cruz as one of the people for the Supreme Court,” Mr. Trump told supporters in Bemidji, Minnesota. “Ted’s the only man i know who could get 100 votes from the Senate. Every single senator is going to vote for him. He’s a great guy, a brilliant guy.”

Just as the president was speaking, news of Justice Ginsburg’s death was breaking around the nation. The 87-year-old liberal jurist had been battling cancer for years.

The president learned of Justice Ginsburg’s death soon after coming off the stage where he had delivered a more than 90-minute campaign speech.

“She just died? I didn’t know that,” he told reporters before boarding Air Force One at the rally site. “She led an amazing life, what else can you say? Whether you agree or not … she led an amazing life.”

During his speech, Mr. Trump said the Supreme Court is very important to the election in November.

“The next president will get one, two, three or four Supreme Court justices,” he said. “Many presidents have had none. They’ve had none because they’re there for a long time.”

“But the next [president] will have anywhere from one to four, think of that,” Mr. Trump said. “That will totally change when you talk about life, when you talk about Second Amendment, when you talk about things that are so important to you.”

Earlier this month, the president released a list of 20 new possible nominees he would consider for the Supreme Court if he’s elected to a second term. The list includes Mr. Cruz and GOP Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Josh Hawley of Missouri.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he would push for confirmation of a new justice this year if a vacancy occurred, despite the looming presidential election.

Ted Cruz was on Hannity Friday night, after news broke of Justice Ginsburg's death.

The Hill with Senator Cruz's thoughts on the next SCOTUS pick:

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said President Trump should nominate a Supreme Court justice to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the high court next week.

"We have a responsibility to do our job," Cruz told Fox News's Sean Hannity on Friday evening. "We cannot let Election Day come and go and with a 4-4 court ... we risk a constitutional crisis. I believe that the president next week should nominate a successor to the court ... and I think that it is critical that the Senate takes up and confirms that successor."

Cruz added that there would be "enormous pressure from the media" and Democrats to delay filling the vacancies Ginsburg's death has created, but said "this nomination is why Donald Trump was elected and this confirmation is why the voters voted for a Republican majority in the Senate."

The Senator from Texas added that Trump should nominate a "constitutionalist with a proven record."

Cruz, a graduate of Harvard Law School and one of Trump's staunchest allies on Capitol Hill, was on a short list of candidates Trump released last week as potential Supreme Court justices.