WASHINGTON– It didn't take long for the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and the matter of his replacement on the bench to become a presidential debate topic.
Trump, Ted Cruz and other Republican presidential candidates said the nomination of a replacement is a matter for the next president, not Barack Obama.
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Trump urged the Republican Senate, which must confirm any nominee, to "Delay, delay, delay." Cruz offered that he would be the best person to nominate the next Supreme Court justice.
And Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he thinks whoever the next president is should make the selection.
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Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton expressed outrage that Republicans would table the replacement of Scalia until 2017.
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Trump said if he were president he would want to nominate the new justice, but that it is up to the Republican-controlled Senate to stop that nominee from taking office. Republicans in Congress have been criticized by conservatives for not doing enough to block Obama's initiatives and appointments.
The death of Scalia and the matter of his replacement was the first topic to come up in the Republican presidential debate Saturday night.
Trump called Scalia's death a "tremendous blow to conservatism."
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