Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush admitted on Sunday his father, former President George H.W. Bush, made an "unfortunate" choice when he named David Souter to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990.
"Well, the Souter choice was unfortunate," Bush told CNN's
"State of the Union." "He wandered off into the liberal camp, for sure."
The question came up after the
death this weekend of Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the court's most ardent supporters of original intent and, therefore, a hero to conservatives.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said the majority Republican Senate will not confirm any nominee to replace Scalia during President Barack Obama's final year in office, instead waiting for a new president, which Republicans hope will be a member of their own party.
Bush said he fully expects Obama to send a Supreme Court nominee to the Senate. And he expects the Senate to reject that nominee.
"That's his prerogative, he has every right to do it," Bush told CNN. "The Senate has every right not to confirm that person ... Given his choices of Supreme Court justices in the past, the Senate of the United States should not confirm someone who is out of the mainstream."
But Bush stopped short of saying Republicans should use procedural maneuvers to block an Obama nominee.
"It's up to Mitch McConnell. It is not important to me," Bush said, referring to the Senate majority leader, who schedules votes.
Bush also was asked about his brother, former President George W. Bush's, appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts, but he said Roberts' performance is more defensible.
"The Obamacare decision, I was disappointed in, but he's made some really good rulings beyond that," Bush said.
"I think the lesson learned is you pick someone with a proven longstanding record, a history that you can point to, he said. "When he wasn't considered or she wasn't being considered for a nomination to the Supreme Court, when he or she was doing their work, and the consistency of their rulings was what mattered. That's the Scalia approach. He was very consistent on his interpretation and his rulings."