That the empty chair of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has been flung into the path of Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls alike should come as a surprise to no-one, given the high political stakes which surround the selection of his successor. However, less expected was that Mr Trump's relatively low-profile sister, Maryanne Trump Barry, would also be dragged into the melee ahead of the South Carolina primary, in which Trump claimed a sweeping victory over the weekend.
Supreme Court Justice Barry
Justice Barry is a senior judge in the US Court of Appeals, appointed by former US President Bill Clinton in 1999 but handed her first judgeship by Ronald Reagan in 1983. For fellow Republican hopeful Ted Cruz, Mr Trump's previous statements in support of his sister call into question whether Mr Trump has what it takes to appoint a pedigree conservative to the Supreme Court bench. Last year, Mr Trump commented that Justice Barry would be a 'phenomenal' choice for the Supreme Court, a comment that he has since insisted was only in jest. 'It's obviously a conflict,' Mr Trump clarified.
'Hardcore', 'liberal' and 'extremist'
However, whether Mr Trump spoke literally or not seems irrelevant to Mr Cruz, a religious social conservative who is counting on the evangelic Christian vote to carry him to the Republican nomination. Over the course of last week, Mr Cruz repeatedly labeled Justice Barry as a 'radical pro-abortion extremist', and Mr Trump's endorsement of her as a blight on his conservative credentials. It appears that Mr Cruz's beef with Justice Barry has roots in a majority ruling which she wrote during her time with the US District Court of New Jersey which ruled a ban on partial-birth abortions to be unconstitutional. 'She is a hardcore pro-abortion liberal judge. And [Mr Trump] said she would make a terrific justice,' said Mr Cruz in an interview on February 14.
Trump takes South Carolina
Though questions about Justice Barry were trending on Google last week the furore around the eldest Trump sibling failed to derail Mr Trump's popularity in South Carolina—he claimed 32.5 per cent of the primary vote and all 50 delegates to the Republican convention over the weekend, leaving Mr Cruz empty handed.
Sources: Quartz; The Guardian; NJ.com
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