Obama: ‘Merrick Garland Is an Extraordinary Jurist Who Is Indisputably Qualified’

OBAMA: “Obviously, we are having a substantial argument in Washington right now not just a particular judge, but also about the process of appointing judges to the Federal courts and appointing nominees to the Supreme court. To get this out of the way, Merrick Garland is an extraordinary jurist who is indisputably qualified to serve on the highest court of the land. And nobody really argues otherwise. I just want to be clear here. If the question is qualifications and excellence, it is uniformly viewed by not just Democrats but also Republicans, those who have served, lawyers, judges, legal scholars, members of the current Supreme Court, that he is as good of the judge as we have in this country right now. That he is fair, he is smart, he is objective, he is a consensus builder, he shows judicial restraint, he is appreciative of the unique role of the court but also respectful of the role of the other branches of government. No one has plausibly made an argument that this is not the kind of person we want on the Supreme Court.”