"I think evangelicals, Christians will love my pick and will be represented very fairly,” President Donald Trump said. | Getty Trump says he wants Supreme Court nominee ‘who’s going to get approved’

President Donald Trump said Friday that one of his top factors in filling the current Supreme Court vacancy is “who’s going to get approved” — a remark that represents a bad sign for 11th Circuit Judge Bill Pryor, one of the finalists whose chances are widely seen as fading in the selection process.

Pryor only narrowly received Senate confirmation to the appeals court a decade ago, by a 53-45 vote.

The two other leading finalists, 3rd Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman and 10th Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch, were approved 95-0 and in a voice vote, respectively, by the Senate.

POLITICO reported earlier this week that those three judges were Trump’s finalists, with Hardiman and Gorsuch as the leading contenders, and that Trump’s sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry of the 3rd Circuit, had weighed in on Hardiman’s behalf.

On Friday, David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network asked Trump, “What’s the bottom-line factor when deciding?”

Trump began by discussing the ease of confirmation. “Well, it’s also who’s going to get approved,” he said. “We have to go through a process after I pick the person that I’m going to be picking who I think I know but I’m not 100 percent. I can’t guarantee it. We’re doing some further checking. The vetting — they call it the vetting process and the vetting process is very, very strong.”

Trump predicted his selection would be praised by the evangelical community, as well.

“I think that the person that I pick will be a big, big — I think people are going to love it. I think evangelicals, Christians will love my pick and will be represented very fairly,” he said.

Trump has said he will announce his selection next Thursday.