The Atlantic

The True Victors of Trump’s Supreme Court Nomination

Amy Coney Barrett’s ascension is a triumph for the conservative legal movement.
Source: Samuel Corum / The New York Time​s / Redux

Updated on September 26, 2020 at 5:21 a.m. ET.

When President Donald Trump announced today that Amy Coney Barrett is his nominee for the Supreme Court, he was effectively declaring victory. In 2016, Trump offered a horse trade to American conservatives: In exchange for their votes, he promised to appoint judges who would champion their interests. This nomination is yet another chance for Trump to remind his supporters that their bet paid off, conveniently timed just a few weeks before Election Day.   

While Trump may see this nomination as a boon to his reelection campaign, the true victors are the leaders of the conservative legal movement, who built the sophisticated machine in Washington that made this moment possible. With most of America’s institutions, from Congress to the executive branch, locked into a state of dysfunction and partisan bitterness, the Court has become the ultimate

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