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The nation was rocked on Friday night when news broke that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away at 87 after numerous health battles.
Ginsburg was largely seen as a champion of gender equality and the last Justice standing in the way of an irrevocable majority of Conservatives on the court.
Discussions of Ginsburg's replacement occurred almost immediately after her death.
President Donald Trump and his allies have called for a swift replacement, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) vowing that a vote for the replacement would reach the Senate floor.
This is a reversal of Republicans' position in early 2016 after the sudden passing of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. When then-President Barack Obama appointed Judge Merrick Garland to the Court, McConnell and other Senate Republicans refused to bring Garland's nomination to the floor.
Their reasoning was that—with Scalia's death occurring only eight months before the November election—no vote for a new Supreme Court Justice should be held until after the American people selected a new President. Despite Ginsburg passing only a little over a month before the November 3 election, the GOP intends to let Donald Trump pick the new Justice.
Ginsburg herself posthumously joined the chorus of Democratic voices calling for Republicans to take the same position they did in 2016 by waiting until after the election to replace her.
In a statement released by Ginsburg's granddaughter after her death, Ginsburg said:
"My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
It doesn't come as a surprise to many that Donald Trump has no intention of heeding Ginsburg's final wish, but Trump now asserts that she didn't say this at all.
Watch below.
Trump on RBG's reported dying wish that next pres fills her seat: "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 ... But that sounds like a Schumer deal or maybe a Pelosi or Shifty Schiff." pic.twitter.com/zE979kK2Q3
— The Recount (@therecount) September 21, 2020
The President instead attributed the statement to his typical rogues' gallery of Democratic lawmakers:
"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 ... But that sounds like a Schumer deal or maybe a Pelosi or Shifty Schiff."
People were repulsed by Trump's accusation.
This is why Trump--and maybe McConnell--will lose the fight over the Court seat. It's one thing to say you're not going to honor Justice Ginsburg's dying wish. It's another thing, as Trump does here, to accuse RBG's granddaughter, Clara Spera, of lying about her grandmother. https://t.co/MACneVDLCg
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) September 21, 2020
You ghoul. https://t.co/juwXDnUI9v
— Working Families Party 🐺 (@WorkingFamilies) September 21, 2020
@realDonaldTrump is a sick, evil twisted human being not worthy of representing America in anyway. https://t.co/ale6SWNGXx
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) September 21, 2020
He's lower than anyone you've ever met... https://t.co/x4WLugKtd9
— RepublicanEthicsGhost (@GOP_EthicsGhost) September 21, 2020
This is despicable and low even for Trump. Her granddaughter reported it. He's such a hateful person. https://t.co/aBftwUQGKv
— Dr. Allee (@gallee50) September 21, 2020
He implies that Democrats made up RBG's dying wish for their own benefit because that's something *he* would do. Every time he accuses others of something disgusting, it's because that's what he would've done in that situation. https://t.co/rr1b01Xre1
— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) September 21, 2020
Ginsburg's death further elevates the already stratospheric stakes of the 2020 election between Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
People are urging Americans not to be complacent in what could be one of the most consequential events of Trump's presidency.
The rage many of us feel, that RBG's seat on the Court will be filled by a nominee who is the spawn of McConnell's duplicity is real. We need urgent action to delay the confirmation of Justice Ginsburg's successor and/or to redouble our efforts to flip the Senate. #GOPisUNFAIR https://t.co/7D8tSFK6G3
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) September 21, 2020
There are 43 days until the election. People have already started voting. Let the people! No nomination until after election. #RBG #SCOTUS
— ilyseh (@ilyseh) September 21, 2020
In 1930, the @NAACP fought Herbert Hoover's nomination to the Supreme Court and won.
90 years later, we are fighting to keep Justice Ginsburg's seat open for the next President to fill. The American people should decide who sits on the SCOTUS.
— NAACP (@NAACP) September 21, 2020
Trump has said he intends to name his nominee for Ginsburg's replacement as early as this week.