Politics

Justices Ginsburg, Sotomayor Put On Brave Faces After Trump’s Victory

YouTube screengrab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EbNWwqLGec

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Kevin Daley Supreme Court correspondent
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U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor each offered measured reactions to President-elect Donald Trump’s victory last week, but telegraphed disappointment that he prevailed in the general election.

Ginsburg and Sotomayor addressed audiences at different events in Washington this week, appearing resigned to Trump’s presidency and eager to welcome a ninth member to their ranks.

“I’m going to demur from answering that question that way,” Sotomayor said, in response to a question about the election while speaking at an event at the Hill Center. “I will answer it in a different way, which is I think that this is the time where every good person has an obligation both to continue being heard and to continue doing the right thing.”

“We can’t afford for a president to fail,” she continued. “And it is true … that we have to support that which he does which is right and help guide him to those right decisions. But we can’t afford to despair, and we can’t afford to give up our pursuing of values that we and others have fought so hard to achieve. And so for me, this is a challenge. So I’m going to continue doing what I think is the right thing. That’s the challenge we all have to face.”

Sotomayor added that she hopes Trump will put forward a nominee to succeed the late Justice Antonin Scalia in short order. (RELATED: Here Are The Early Favorites For Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee)

Ginsburg was somewhat more circumspect when speaking to the Jewish Federations of North America Monday, saying simply that she expects Trump to nominate a ninth justice shortly.

“There is an existing vacancy and President Trump will fill it,” she said.

Ginsburg has previously let fly deep-seated opprobrium for the president-elect, telling reporters this summer that she would move to New Zealand should he prevail in the November election.

“He is a faker,” she told veteran Supreme Court correspondent and biographer Joan Biskupic. “He has no consistency about him. He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego.”

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