President Barack Obama on Monday took the political battle over his pick for a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court to the home states of seven Republican senators up for re-election in November.
Obama conducted interviews with local television anchors where he argued that Republican senators should hold confirmation hearings and vote on his nomination of appellate Judge Merrick Garland to the top court.
"What my argument is: Let the American people see Judge Garland, let him answer questions, let them hear his responses," the Democratic president told WDAF-TV FOX 4 in Kansas City, Missouri, a market that straddles states where Sens. Roy Blunt of Missouri and Jerry Moran of Kansas are up for re-election.