President Donald Trump baselessly cast doubt on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish during an appearance on “Fox & Friends” Monday, suggesting the Supreme Court justice’s last request — to have Trump’s successor pick her replacement — was fabricated by Democrats.
Co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked Trump about reports that Bader Ginsburg told her granddaughter on her deathbed, “My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed.”
“I don’t know that she said that, or was that written out by Adam Schiff and Schumer and Pelosi?” Trump asked, naming three prominent Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate.
“It was reported,” Earhardt reminded him, but the president pushed on.
“I would be more inclined to the second. That came out of the wind. It sounds so beautiful, but that sounds like a Schumer deal or maybe a Pelosi or a Shifty Schiff, so that came out of the wind. Let’s see. Maybe she did and maybe she didn’t,” he said.
Trump went on to say Republicans “won the election” and had an obligation to act quickly because there will be “election things involved” in the nomination of a justice to feel Bader Ginsburg’s seat. He again baselessly referred to “fake ballots” being sent to people, though there is no evidence that is happening.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed hours after the Supreme Court justice’s death Friday that President Trump’s replacement nominee would get a vote on the Senate floor. Trump followed that up on Saturday morning, telling the GOP that they have an “obligation, without delay,” to select a new Supreme Court justice. It was not clear when McConnell intended to hold the new vote.
McConnell prevented a vote on then-president Barack Obama’s replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016.
Ainsley Earhardt suggests that RBG's dying wish might be fabricated by saying that she "allegedly" told her granddaughter she wanted the next president to choose her successor. Trump immediately accuses Adam Schiff, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer of fabricating it. pic.twitter.com/S0Oao5NIkn
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) September 21, 2020