Republican candidate fires back at justice over remarks that criticized his presidential run, including that she ‘couldn’t imagine’ a Trump presidency
Republican presidential contender Donald Trump fired back at Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Tuesday over comments she made over the weekend in which she seemed to lament a possible Trump presidency. Trump said she should “get off the court as soon as possible.”
Ginsburg sparked an ethical and legal debate when she told the New York Times on Monday that she “can’t imagine what the country would be” with Donald Trump as president, nor does she “even want to contemplate” the implications for the Supreme Court.
She later told CNN that Trump was a “faker” with “no consistency about him; he says whatever comes into his head at the moment.”
“He really has an ego,” she added. “How has he gotten away with not turning over his tax returns? The press seems to be very gentle with him on that.”
Trump slammed the judge, calling her comments “highly inappropriate” and demanding an apology.
“I think it’s highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly,” Trump told the New York Times in response. “I think it’s a disgrace to the court, and I think she should apologize to the court. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.”
“It’s so beneath the court for her to be making statements like that. It only energizes my base even more. And I would hope that she would get off the court as soon as possible,” he added.
House Speaker Paul Ryan also criticized Ginsburg for the disparaging remarks, calling her comments “very peculiar” and “inherently biased and out of the realm.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said her comments were “totally inappropriate.”
“It raises a level of skepticism that the American people have from time to time about just how objective the Supreme Court is, whether they’re over there to call the balls and strikes, or weigh in on one side or another,” McConnell said.
In her New York Times interview, Ginsburg said: “I can’t imagine what this place would be — I can’t imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our president. For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be — I don’t even want to contemplate that.”
Ginsburg said the possibility of Trump winning the presidential election in November reminded her of something her late husband, Martin, would have said.
“‘Now it’s time for us to move to New Zealand,’” she quoted him saying during the interview in her chambers.
Ginsburg, 83, who has twice been treated for cancer and immediately returned to the bench, said she would not leave her job “as long as I can do it full steam.”