Trump calls on Justice Ginsburg to resign amid political row
- Published
The Supreme Court Justice called Donald Trump a 'faker'
The likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has called on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to quit.
In a tweet, Mr Trump said the top judge was "making very dumb political statements" and should "resign".
His call comes after Justice Ginsburg, 83, moved beyond her usual candour to disparage Mr Trump in a series of interviews.
Critics say the liberal judge has risked her legacy to lambast Mr Trump.
"He is a faker," Justice Ginsburg told CNN on Monday. "He has no consistency about him. He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego."
In a recent New York Times interview, external, Justice Ginsburg also said a Trump presidency would be unimaginable.
"I can't imagine what this place would be - I can't imagine what the country would be - with Donald Trump as our president," she said. "For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be - I don't even want to contemplate that."
Justice Ginsburg also quipped that she would move to New Zealand if he should win the White House.
Was Ginsburg wrong to attack?
Mark Joseph Stern of Slate writes, external Ginsburg "made a very conscious decision to cash in her political capital" because it "may be the one thing the justice can do to help prevent a President Trump".
University of Minnesota professor Richard Painter told the New York Times, external that if Mr Trump is elected, the comments invite challenges to her impartiality.
Edward Whelan III, the president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center who has previously criticised Justice Ginsburg, told the Washington Post, external that she went too far. "I am not a fan of Donald Trump's at all. But the soundness or unsoundness of her concerns about Donald Trump has no bearing on whether it was proper for her to say what she said."
Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at the University of California at Irvine, found her comments unsurprising. "I don't think anyone should be surprised that Ruth Bader Ginsburg thinks this," Chemerinsky told Bloomberg, external. "Saying this doesn't change the reality."
On Tuesday, Mr Trump fired back, telling the New York Times, external it was "highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly".
The likely Republican nominee said her remarks were a "disgrace to the court" and insisted she should apologise.
Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan also weighed in, saying the Justice's remarks revealed "bias" during a CNN town hall interview on Wednesday.
"For someone on the Supreme Court who is going to be calling balls and strikes in the future based upon what the next president and Congress does, that strikes me as inherently biased and out of the realm", he said.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest brushed off the idea that the comments were inappropriate and said "she didn't earn the nickname 'The Notorious RBG' for nothing".
The political battle for the Supreme Court
Justice Ginsburg also recently told the Associated Press, external that "it's likely that the next president, whoever she will be, will have a few appointments to make".
She is the oldest justice on the court and will be one of three judges over the age of 78 on Election Day.
Justice Anthony Kennedy will turn 80 in July and Justice Stephen Breyer will turn 78 in August.
The court has taken a central role in the US presidential election over the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February.
Senate Republicans have refused to hold hearings on confirming President Barack Obama's nominee for the seat, Merrick Garland, arguing the nomination should be determined by the next president.