Nearly all voters prefer evaluating every nomination for U.S. Supreme Court justice regardless of race.
More than three quarters (76%) of Americans want the president to consider all potential candidates no matter what their skin color is.
The latest ABC News/Ipsos poll found only 23% of 510 respondents support Joe Biden’s plan to appoint a black woman to the nation’s highest court.
“On the Supreme Court Americans are divided on the legal versus political nature of justices,” the summary of findings said. “However, a majority of Americans believe Biden should cast a wide net for potential new justices and not only consider black women as he has pledged to do.”
When measured based on political party preference, nearly all Republicans (95%) wanted Biden to “consider all.” More than half of Democrats (54%) shared the same view.
“Republicans are more likely to believe law prevails (46% law, 33% partisan views) while Democrats are more likely to think politics prevail (32% law, 52% partisan views),” the summary said.
The findings came ahead of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s planned retirement. The 83-year-old Democrat had not announced a finishing date at the time of publication.
Respondents were interviewed between Jan. 28 and Jan. 29, 2022. The poll reported a sampling error margin of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.
