By Payton Saso
On Thursday, President Donald Trump made a brief trip to the Supreme Court to visit the casket of the late Justice Ginsburg. However, where he and his wife, Melania, came to stand in silence to pay their respects, the observing crowds’ chants consumed the moment.
The crowd booed, chanted “vote him out” and “honor her wish” as the President stood for a short time wearing a mask, which he is not usually seen doing. It seems his symbolic act of honoring Justice Ginsburg did not appease the masses.
After a video showing the moment Trump learned of the Justice’s passing was broadcasted, many people were shocked that the President appeared civil, for lack of a better word, when interviewed.
However, it is important to remember actions speak louder than words, and this bare minimum, one-off moment does not over power his lasting sentiment about Ginsburg.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had not been one to shy away from sharing her opinion, especially when she saw something as an injustice. CNN reported that in 2016 Ginsburg “called Mr. Trump “a faker” who has “an ego” and has been treated too gently by the press. She said Mr. Trump “says whatever comes into his head at the moment” and has no consistency in his thinking.”
But this does not come as a surprise that this is how the Justice felt about the President. As a champion of women’s rights and one of the Justice’s that falls far left in opinion, it’s not unusual that the acts of an ultra-conservative, law bending president would not be Ruth’s cup of tea.
This showed strongly when NPR reported Ginsburg’s dying wish: “Just days before her death, as her strength waned, Ginsburg dictated this statement to her granddaughter Clara Spera: ‘My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.’”
This, however, is not the track the President is taking. With a vacancy on the Supreme Court, a Republican President’s nomination could shift the court in their favor 6-3, and Trump and Senator Mitch McConnell are trying to clutch that nomination before the November election.
It seems the revered Justice’s dying wish will not be honored even though the man pushing for her replacement made a similar exception four years ago.
Republican Senator McConnell’s words have come back to haunt him when in 2016 following Justice Scalia’s passing, he made it clear they would not allow a nomination during an election year. “Approximately one hour after his death, McConnell announced that the Senate would not hold confirmation hearings for anyone President Barack Obama chose to nominate. McConnell claimed, without any legal basis, that Supreme Court vacancies should not be filled in election years,” NBC reported.
But it seems now the Senator is back peddling, pushing for a new nomination just 40 days from the election. Not only are they dishonoring Justice Ginsburg’s death by nominating someone while Trump is still president, but Trump publicly said he doesn’t believe that was really her dying wish.
On the Fox News broadcast ‘Fox and Friends’ Trump gave an interview Monday claiming her dying wish might have been fabricated.
“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, OK? That came out of the wind,” Trump said. “It sounds so beautiful. But that sounds like a Schumer deal or maybe a Pelosi or shifty Schiff. So that came out of the wind. Let’s see. I mean, maybe she did and maybe she didn’t.”
This was dedicated in a fact checking article written by CNN where they rebuffed saying that these claims are completely baseless.
This conspiracy theory made up in the mind of Trump, seems just another way Trump has concocted that Democrats are out to get him. Claiming a person, let alone a Supreme Court Justices’ dying wish is a scheme made up by Democrats to dissuade Trump from making a nomination is outlandish.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg deserves to honored after death for her revolutionary career and the lasting impact she had on many people’s lives, especially women’s. So while the crowd booed and chanted “honor her wish” as Trump paid his respects, whether it was for show or not, the public can only hope that the President does, or at least isn’t able to push his nomination.
