HE’D RATHER BE SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE U.N. — MORE TRAVEL, LESS WORK: WH: Obama doesn’t want Supreme Court appointment.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Thursday threw cold water on the idea President Obama would accept an appointment to the Supreme Court after he leaves office.
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton floated the possibility this week, calling it a “great idea” to nominate Obama to the nation’s highest court. But Earnest said the 44th president has other plans after he leaves office.
“My guess is that his aspirations for his post-presidency extend beyond a Supreme Court appointment,” the spokesman said of Obama.
Obama, a graduate of Harvard Law who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago, “would have plenty of ideas for how he would do a job like that,” Earnest said. But he added Obama would prefer to handle a wider range of issues after he leaves the White House.
Speaking at an Iowa campaign rally Tuesday, Clinton herself acknowledged the idea was a long shot. “He may have other things to do,” she said.
The president himself downplayed his interest in a court appointment in 2014.
He lacks a scholarly mind.