Jeb Bush Admires Clarence Thomas, Thinks Antonin Scalia Is The 'Most Interesting Opinion Writer'

WASHINGTON -- Two current Supreme Court justices stand out to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R), who is almost certain to launch his campaign for president in the next several months.

Speaking at the conservative National Review Institute's ideas summit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Bush called Antonin Scalia “far and away the most interesting opinion writer" on the court and praised the conservative justice for his textualist approach to the U.S. Constitution.

Yet the justice he is ideologically closest to, Bush said, was Clarence Thomas.

“There’s a quiet and consistency there I like and I generally agree with his views," Bush said, referring to Thomas' famous habit of not asking any questions during oral arguments.

The two justices belong to the conservative bloc that, along with swing vote Anthony Kennedy, has pushed the court to the right in recent years. The two other members of the bloc -- Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito -- were appointed to the court by former President George W. Bush, Jeb's brother.

The next president will likely make at least one appointment to the Supreme Court upon the expected retirement of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginsburg, a member of the liberal bloc, is currently the oldest serving justice at 82 years old. Despite calls for her to retire before the end of President Barack Obama's term to preserve the ideological balance of the court, Ginsburg has held firm to her decision to remain active.