Reiner warns that Trump court nominee will vote to strip away rights

Rob Reiner warned Thursday morning that if President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court is similar to Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito, past rulings will be overturned.

Posted 2:30 p.m. Jun 28, 2018 — Updated 2:30 p.m. Jun 28, 2018

Sofia Barrett

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Lindsey Ellefson (CNN)

(CNN) — Rob Reiner warned Thursday morning that if President Trump's nominee for the Supreme Court is similar to Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas or Samuel Alito, past rulings will be overturned.

The announcement of Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement on Wednesday sparked concern for the actor, director and activist, as Kennedy's vote often decided cases on topics like abortion, marriage equality and affirmative action.

"We're going to have rights stripped away" if Trump's nominee is like conservative justices, Reiner told CNN's John Berman. "There's no question about that."

Reiner, known for movies and shows that tackle social issues, outlined his role in the 2015 Supreme Court ruling on Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in the US.

"We were the first group to file a federal lawsuit," Reiner explained to Berman, referring to the 2010 challenge to California's Proposition 8 on equal protection and due process grounds.

"With the makeup of the court that we're looking at, I don't know that we would have ever gotten (marriage equality)," Reiner mused.

This will be the Trump administration's second appointment to the Supreme Court. The first was Gorsuch, whom Trump nominated in 2017. Wednesday, the President indicated he is likely to pick his second nominee from the same list he considered the first time around.

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