In an all-out effort to force Senate Republicans to take up President Obama’s nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court, the White House has enlisted the use of social media.
Wednesday morning, the White House launched a new Twitter account, @SCOTUSnom, with which to blast out its narrative. The administration has also added a page to the official White House website to share information about Garland’s nomination, wh.gov/scotus.
Among the latest elements added to the website is a three-minute biographical video that was uploaded to the White House’s official YouTube account. In it, the nominee talks briefly about his family, his role in the Oklahoma City bombing investigation, and his views on the role of the court.
Scroll down to see the video.
The White House website also has a “nomination tracker” that will likely compare the length of time before Garland’s nomination receives a hearing and a vote, if those ever happen, compared to other “election year” nominations by Republican presidents. It also includes testimonials from legal experts who say it would be wrong for Senate Republicans to block the nomination.
All of these elements have buttons for one-click sharing of the information on social media.
