The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s last wish may have been fabricated by Democratic congressional leaders, President Donald Trump claimed.
Trump appeared on Fox News on Monday morning and said that Democratic leaders such as House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House intelligence committee chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) may have made up Ginsburg’s dying wish to be replaced on the bench by a different president.
During a lengthy interview on “Fox and Friends,” host Ainsley Earhardt asked the president about Ginsburg’s dying wish, which was reported by Ginsburg’s granddaughter on Friday after the justice passed away due to complications from cancer. Trump responded:
Well, I don’t know that she said that or was that written out by Adam Schiff and Schumer and Pelosi. I would be more inclined to the second, okay? That came out of the wind. It sounds so beautiful, but that sounds like a Schumer deal, or maybe Pelosi or shifty Schiff, so that came out of the wind. Let’s see, so maybe she did and maybe she didn’t. Look, the bottom line is we won the election. We have and obligation to do what’s right and act as quickly as possible. We should act quickly, because we are probably going to have election things involved here because of the fake ballots that they’ll be sending out. It’s a terrible, terrible situation.
"I don't know that she said that, or was that written out by Adam Schiff, Schumer and Pelosi," @realDonaldTrump said of Ruth Bader Ginsburg's "fervent" last wish. pic.twitter.com/LBsSGEpnqX
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) September 21, 2020
On Friday, Ginsburg’s granddaughter Clara Spera said that the late justice had “dictated” her dying wish: “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
Democrats have asserted that Trump should honor Ginsburg’s alleged wish and refrain from appointing a new justice, apparently for another four years if Trump wins reelection against Democratic nominee Joe Biden. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Biden’s vice presidential pick, put out a statement on Friday night saying Trump should not nominate a new justice.
“Tonight we mourn, we honor, and we pray for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her family. But we also recommit to fight for her legacy,” Harris said. “Justice Ginsburg was known to pose the question ‘What is the difference between a bookkeeper in the Garment District and a Supreme Court justice?’ Her answer: ‘One generation.’ She never forgot where she came from, or those who sacrificed to help her grow into the historic icon we all came to revere.”
“Even as we focus on the life that she led and process tonight’s grief, her legacy and the future of the court to which she dedicated so much can’t disappear from our effort to honor her. In some of her final moments with her family, she shared her fervent wish to ‘not be replaced until a new President is installed.’ We will honor that wish,” Harris said.
Tonight we mourn, we honor, and we pray for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her family. But we also recommit to fight for her legacy.
Doug and I send our heartfelt prayers to Jane and James, and the entire Ginsburg family, particularly on this holy day of Rosh Hashanah. pic.twitter.com/SNyqZCznfv
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) September 19, 2020
Trump has pledged to nominate a new justice later this week, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has pledged to bring that nominee to a vote. Trump has said he will nominate another woman to fill the seat, which would be the fifth woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It will be a woman, a very talented, very brilliant woman,” Trump told a crowd of supporters in Fayetteville, North Carolina, on Saturday. “We have numerous women on the list. I built this incredible list of brilliant people.”
At the top of the list are judges Amy Coney Barrett in Chicago and Barbara Lagoa in Atlanta, according to multiple reports. Barrett was on Trump’s shortlist to replace former Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Lagoa is the first Hispanic woman to sit on the Supreme Court of Florida.
