As you might expect, I was skeptical of Donald Trump’s list of 11 potential Supreme Court picks.

I have even more reason to be skeptical due to the fact that Trump told Sean Hannity, his SC pick wouldn’t necessarily be one of the 11 judges:

I thought what I would do is put this forward and this would be the list that I would either choose from or pick people very close in terms of the spirit and the meaning of what they represent. We’re either going to choose from this list or people very close to it. At a minimum, we will keep people from this general realm.

If Trump believes there are other justices from this “general realm” why wouldn’t they be included on the list as well? Did Trump’s staff just get too tired once they got to 11? Or is it because the list includes a judge who has mocked Trump on Twitter?

Frankly, I don’t expect Trump to appoint any of the 11 conservatives on the list especially if the Democrats wrest control of the Senate. I simply can’t see Trump crossing Chuck Schumer. And even if the GOP holds onto the Senate, we all know how mercurial Trump can be. If Senate Republicans don’t say in unison, “How high?” when Trump says jump is it really inconceivable that Trump wouldn’t appoint a liberal Democrat to the bench out of spite?

Trump is basically saying the names on his list aren’t written in stone. As such, Republicans should not treat this list like gospel.