Next Justice likely to be a woman

Source: AFP Published: 2020/9/20 17:28:41

Trump to ‘move quickly’ on Supreme Court successor


A banner and flowers are pictured at a makeshift memorial outside of the US Supreme Court as people pay their respects to Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Washington DC on Sunday. Photo: AFP



US President Donald Trump vowed Saturday to quickly nominate a successor, likely a woman, to replace late Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, only a day after the death of the liberal stalwart.

The president's desire "to move quickly" on the process despite Democrats' vehement opposition, is likely to dominate the campaigns ahead of the November 3 presidential election.

"I think it's going to move quickly actually," Trump told reporters outside the White House Saturday, adding that he thought his choice would be made "next week."

The 87-year-old Ginsburg, immensely popular among Democrats, died Friday after a long battle with cancer, prompting an outpouring of national grief.

Ginsburg's death, coming just weeks before the election, offers Republicans a chance to lock in a decades-long conservative majority on the court, where justices are appointed for life.

The stakes are high as the decision could affect such life-and-death issues as abortion, healthcare, gun control and gay rights.

They are pushed even higher in a bitter election year when the justices can play a decisive role in legal wrangling over a contested result - such as when they ruled in George W. Bush's favor to end the 2000 election debacle.

Trump has already named two justices during his first term as president, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, giving conservatives a 5-4 majority before Ginsburg's death, though that does not guarantee rulings in Trump's favor - there have been several recent examples of conservatives siding with their progressive colleagues.

Trump, who is lagging in the polls behind Democratic opponent Joe Biden, has another powerful incentive to move ahead: providing a jolt of enthusiasm among his anti-abortion and evangelical supporters. 

Speaking at a rally in North Carolina later Saturday, he took an impromptu poll from the crowd, asking them to cheer for either a woman or a man to be his pick. The crowd cheered considerably louder for a woman.

"That's a very accurate poll because that's the way I feel," he said. "It will be a woman. A very talented, very brilliant woman, who I haven't chosen yet - but we have numerous women on the list."

AFP

Posted in: AMERICAS

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