What does America really think of Amy Coney Barrett? We asked YouGov Chat users if they approve of Trump's pick to fill Ruth Bader Ginsberg’s seat on the Supreme Court. You can share your thoughts on the nominee here.
“She is perfect. Knows more about jurisprudence than anybody now on the Court.”
Nearly half of registered voters think Amy Coney Barrett is qualified to serve on the US Supreme Court (48%). Of those who approve of Trump’s pick, many cited her constitutionalist views as the number one reason why.
- “She will interpret the constitution and not rewrite.”
- “She's qualified, seems level headed and she's a Constitutionalist. I like that.”
- “Judge Barrett has an impeccable reputation in every role she's had in life. Her writings that I've read are well reasoned and grounded in the law. It appears that she is a literalist, interpreting the Constitution as it is written. Her judicial philosophy doesn't allow for judicial activism. I may not always like her rulings, but she follows the letter of the law. I respect and appreciate that.”
Other Chat users said they admired her pro-life values.
- “I like her values. She believes in the constitution and that is something the DEMS don't believe in unless they fall back on it to use it for their narrative. The DEMs are one sided, their side. I do not believe in abortion at all.”
- “She's a strong, pro-life conservative justice that supports the 2nd Amendment. Just what this country needs.”
Values aside, Chat users argued that Barrett’s experience alone qualifies her for the job.
- “She is highly qualified for the job she is real big on the amendments.”
- “She has experience and seems to be smart. not my first pick but I don't see how it’s bad or wrong.”
- “She's a strong woman with a great background in law and very qualified for the role,also she honors the constitution as it was written.”
Chat users also looked to Barrett’s personal life as evidence for why she would make a good Supreme Court Justice, often picking up on her experience as a mother and her religious faith.
- “She has proven to be a strong person, a woman that can handle 7 children and one of them with special needs and a husband is a Saint. She seems to believe and willing to defend our Constitution. Her trust in God.”
- “She has had kids. I'm sick of childless people taking any control of the government they have no future.”
- “She is an honest, God fearing Christian woman who has the highest qualifications.”
“I don't disapprove of his choice. I disapprove because he made a choice.”
But not everyone is on board with Trump’s pick. For many Chat users their opposition to Barrett was rooted in what they perceive to be her ‘extreme’ religious and conservative views.
- “She is overtly religious and will rule with religion rather than the constitution in mind.”
- “She is not a neutral judge and actively pushes her religious beliefs on others and that it’s not how a judge should act.”
- “Election year and extremely conservative. I do not trust this candidate will not utilize her religious belief as a pendulum to make decisions that affect all religions and non-religious Americans.”
Others took issue with her stance on women’s rights.
- “I'm not for such a strong conservative lean in our supreme court. not to mention her problematic views on abortion and feminism.”
- “She is going to send the women's movement back to the 1950's.”
- “She will probably play a part in dismantling women's rights and the ACA, for starters.”
Many Chat users oppose Amy Coney Barret’s nomination on the basis that it would create an imbalance in the Supreme Court.
- “She's way too conservative, we need to keep our Supreme Court neutral. She will sway the court way far to the right.”
- “He should not push to nominate a new justice during an election year. Also his pick will create a massive ideological imbalance in the supreme court.”
- “She is a hard right conservative, and tilts the Court heavily to the conservative side. I believe that every attempt should be made to elevate judges to the SCOTUS when they can show a willingness to rule on cases based on the law rather than their personal bias.”
An earlier YouGov survey found that nearly half of Americans don’t want a new justice confirmed before the presidential election (49%).
A number of Chat users also phrased their opposition to Barrett on the grounds that Trump shouldn't be nominating a Supreme Court justice at all in an election year.
- “No nomination should be considered at all according to the precedent set by the GOP with the Garland nomination in 2016.”
- “The Republicans should follow the precedent they set with Merrick Garland and the Obama administration.”
- “While I agree that the president and senate have the power to nominate and confirm a SCOTUS nominee less than a month before a presidential election, the exercise of such raw political power makes me uncomfortable. This is particularly true given the Republicans' position on President Obama's 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland.”
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Everyday, members of YouGov Chat are asked to share their opinion on a topic in the news. We allow anyone to take part in these chats, and do not display or weight results in real-time. Instead, to make the experience informative but still interactive, the chat displays weighted data from YouGov Direct to show them how the rest of the country voted. This enables us to pose the question to all, while retaining data accuracy and validity when communicating results.
YouGov chat seeks to add to the ‘what?’ (the quantitative poll result) by finding the ‘why?” (qualitative open ends) in a member’s own words. Learn more about YouGov Chat here.
Image: YouGov
