Poll: Majority of Americans oppose choosing Supreme Court Justices by race and gender

President Joe Biden’s commitment to only nominate a a new Supreme Court justice who is a Black female does not have broad support, a newly released poll suggests.

The ABC/Ipsos poll found that 76% of surveyed Americans say Biden should consider "all possible nominees" to fill Breyer’s seat while 23% say Biden should “consider only nominees who are Black women, as he has pledged to do.”

Biden promised several times during the campaign to nominate a Black female justice, saying he is “looking forward to making sure there’s a Black woman on the Supreme Court.”

“Number one, I am committed that if I'm elected president and have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I'll appoint the first Black woman to the courts,” Biden said in March 2020. "It's required that they have representation now. It's long overdue."

Analysts have circulated several names as potential replacements for Breyer, including D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger, and South Carolina District Judge J. Michelle Childs.

Republicans have called on Biden to nominate a centrist judge. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, echoed the sentiments of the ABC poll and blasted Biden for narrowing his choice to only a Black woman.

“Black women are, what, 6% of the U.S. population?” Cruz said on “The Verdict,” his podcast.

A recent Rasmussen poll also found the majority of Americans oppose choosing justices by race and gender, though most Americans think Biden will do so anyway.

“A new national telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports finds that 59% of Likely U.S. voters expect Biden to keep his promise by nominating a black woman to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court created by the retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer,” Rasmussen said. “Only 19% think Biden will break his campaign promise, while 21% are not sure.”