Poll: Majority of Americans want 2020 winner to pick Ginsburg's replacement

Female legislators look on as the casket of the late Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is carried Friday. A poll released Friday found that a majority of Americans want the winner of the 2020 election to select her replacement. Pool photo by Jonathan Ernst/UPI | License Photo

Sept. 25 (UPI) -- A majority of Americans believe whoever is elected president in November should be the one to nominate the jurist to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, a poll released Friday found.

The Washington Post/ABC News poll found that 57% of respondents want the Senate to hold hearings for a nominee picked by the winner of the election, while 38% want hearings on President Donald Trump's pick.

Ginsburg died one week ago, less than two months before Election Day. Trump said he plans to nominate a new Supreme Court justice before Nov. 3, but critics said he should wait and let the winner of the election decide.

Democrats are especially eager for the nomination to be delayed pending the results of the election after Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell blocked hearings on President Barack Obama's pick after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia about nine months before the 2016 election.

RELATED Votes cast in November will shape Congress through 2030

McConnell promised to hold a floor vote on Trump's pick, though.

After Scalia's death, a Post/News poll found that 63% of respondents believed the Senate should hold hearings on Obama's pick to replace Scalia, while 32% believed hearings should wait until a new president.

Trump ultimately picked Scalia's replacement -- Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Asked who they'd prefer to pick the next Supreme Court nominee, 50% of respondents said Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and 42% said Trump.

The Supreme Court appointment, though, came in sixth on the list of things most important to Americans when it comes to their choice for president. Those issues, in order, are the economy (25%), the coronavirus pandemic (17%), healthcare (15%), race equality (14%), crime and safety (12%) and the Supreme Court (11%).

The Post/News survey questioned 1,008 adults between Sept. 21-24 and had a margin of error of 3.5%.

Another poll published Thursday found that most Americans said the ideological makeup of the Supreme Court before Ginsburg's death was "about right."