Ready to talk Donald Trump and the Supreme Court?

Oh you are? Perfect.

On Wednesday, Donald Trump took to the podium to, essentially, give me a heart attack. He unveiled a list of 20 people whom he would appoint to the Supreme Court should there be an opening during his presidency.

Here’s the list:

1. Bridget Bade
2. Daniel Cameron
3. Paul Clement
4. Tom Cotton
5. Ted Cruz
6. Kyle Duncan
7. Steven Engel
8. Noel Francisco
9. Josh Hawley
10. James Ho
11. Greg Katsas
12. Barbara Lagoa
13. Chris Landau
14. Carlos Muniz
15. Martha Pacold
16. Peter Phipps
17. Sarah Pitlyk
18. Allison Rushing
19. Kate Todd
20. Lawrence VanDyke

You might be thinking, “Imani! I don’t wanna read this thread! I already know his 20 picks were absolute numpties.”

And you’re right. They are! But I also want to talk about how Trump’s speech was a preemptive strike against ANY BLACK WOMAN Biden might nominate for SCOTUS.

But first, let’s just sit with the fact that Trump’s list is a veritable who’s whom of incompetent, primarily white 40-year-old Federalist Society darlings who will stink up the Supreme Court for the next four decades if Trump gets an opportunity to appoint them.

I won’t go into detail about the Federalist Society, but it’s basically a bunch of Voldemort-types who decide which hyper-conservative judges Trump should appoint to the courts. Executive Editor Jessica Mason Pieklo and I recorded a podcast episode in January about its founder Leonard Leo.

Back to the list: Some of the names Trump listed are a joke. One name in particular: Ted Cruz.

Donald Trump is never going to nominate Ted Cruz. It’s well known that Republicans don’t like Ted Cruz, so good luck getting confirmed, my guy. (But that didn’t stop Rafael from immediately licking Trump’s boots like the sad sack he is.)

Dude, Trump called your wife ugly! He said your dad had something to do with JFK’s assassination! But you’re humbly honored? Pfffft. Grow a pair of ovaries.

Am humbled & deeply honored to be on President Trump’s SCOTUS list, released today.

I spent this Summer writing a book on the Supreme Court, telling the inside story of how our constitutional liberties hang in the balance, One Vote Away.

PRE-ORDER here: https://t.co/CspAgcr7yO

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 9, 2020

Other names Trump listed are downright alarming—like Sarah Pitlyk. She was confirmed to a district court in Missouri in December. She’s 43 years old and wildly unqualified. (She’s never tried a case, taken a deposition, or even argued a motion in court.)

She’s also a big proponent of race and sex-selective abortion bans which are truly absurd.

How absurd? Let me tell you. This gon’ be good.

So about race-selective abortion bans.

First, who the hell is getting an abortion because they find out that their kid is going to be Black?

Have you ever heard of a pregnant Black woman going to the OB-GYN and saying, “Give it to me straight, doc. Is my baby gonna be Black?!” Of course not. Because IT’S ABSURD! There’s no point to race-selective abortion bans—unless racist white people are forcing their white daughters to get abortions because they don’t want their daughter having a Black baby, but that’s another conversation for another time.

About sex-selective bans.

Sarah Pitlyk spews nonsense about how AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) women “prefer sons” and are basically drop-kicking baby girls off a mountain when in reality—ASIAN AMERICAN WOMEN GIVE BIRTH TO MORE GIRLS THAN WHITE WOMEN DO.

So…

Trump also named Allison Rushing and boy howdy, is she the worst.

She’s the judge who thinks that being a Black man just walking around minding your own business is a crime.

Check out Lisa Needham’s article on just how incompetent and racist she is.

I’m not going to go through every numpty on Trump’s list because nobody has time for that.

Although a brief mention of Sen. Tom Cotton is in order because seriously? Mr. “They Shoot Protestors Don’t They” is on the list?

Yikes.

But back to my point about Trump’s preemptive attack on Black women.

Before he began monotonously listing a who’s who of primarily white dudes, Trump yammered on about Biden being a RADICAL LEFTIST who is going to appoint godless RADICAL LEFTIST justices.

Did you know that any person Biden nominates to SCOTUS is going to remove the words “under god” from the pledge of allegiance? I KNOW!

That’s what one Donald J. Trump said Wednesday so by Grabthar’s hammer, it must be true.

It’s not surprising that Trump’s announcement was steeped in racism and misogyny. That’s who he is.

Do you know what the lovely melange of racism and misogyny which Black women face on the daily is called?

MISOGYNOIR!

Black feminist and scholar Moya Bailey coined the term.

By whipping up hysteria about “RADICAL LEFTISTS,” Trump conflated being a Black woman with being a RADICAL LEFTIST who wants to murder cops and who wants to abort full-grown adults by shooting them with the guns that Biden’s goons are going to confiscate once he is inaugurated.

It’s not really a dog whistle—more of a dog vuvuzela.

Never mind that the pathway to the Supreme Court bench for Black women lawyers is limited due to … say it with me … MISOGYNOIR!

Trust me. I know of what I speak. After all, I’m a Black woman lawyer.

The bottom line is this: Trump wants you to know that if you reelect him, he will make sure none of Those People end up on the Supreme Court.

Only HIS people will. And his people are primarily white, male, and extremely right wing.

So there you have it! Trump is going to nominate a murder of right-wing ding dongs to #SCOTUS and he’s going to be hella racist and misogynistic about it.

So before my blood pressure rises any higher, I must bid you adieu.

This has been @AngryBlackLady for #TeamLegal.

This post was adapted from a Twitter thread.