Trump stayed silent — at least publicly — for three days about the most consequential abortion ruling in a generation after the Supreme Court on Monday struck down Texas restrictions on abortion clinics, concluding that they posed an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.
When asked about the ruling Thursday, Trump mischaracterized it. “If we had— Scalia was living or Scalia was replaced by me, you wouldn’t have had that. It would’ve been the opposite,” Trump said on the Mike Gallagher talk radio show. In fact, the ruling was 5-3; one more vote for the Texas law wouldn’t have changed the outcome…

The episode reinforced doubts among prominent conservatives over whether Trump is sufficiently dedicated to ensuring a right-leaning Supreme Court.

“The stakes are obviously high, but I don’t have faith in Trump to follow through on his commitment to only nominate solid constitutionalist judges,” said Jonathan Adler, a conservative legal scholar who teaches at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland. “I understand why some folks on the right might be inclined to hold their nose and vote for Trump, hoping that he’ll make decent judicial nominations, but not me.”