Donald Trump praised Supreme Court rulings that ended affirmative action in college admissions and a student debt-relief program, as well as limited LGBTQ protections, touting his role in installing the court’s conservative majority as he campaigned in South Carolina on Saturday.
Speaking to supporters in Pickens in the state’s northwest corner, the former president pointed to his judicial picks, which include three Supreme Court justices he appointed as president, as well as last year’s ruling that overturned the constitutional right to abortion.
“This week, those justices ruled to move our country forward with a merit-based system of education,” he said, referencing the affirmative-action case. “If you’re a worker and you work very hard in school, you got fantastic marks, somebody that hasn’t done nearly as well who perhaps has not worked nearly as hard will not be taking your place.”
Trump, the front-runner in the Republican presidential primary field for 2024, also argued that the court was right to block President Joe Biden’s proposal to cancel $400 billion of student loans, which would have been “very unfair” to those who paid off their debt.
A separate decision to allow a website designer to refuse to work on same-sex weddings was a “tremendous win” for religious liberty, he said.
The decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case on abortion rights gave “pro-lifers a tremendous power to negotiate” over the issue, he said.
