Official White House Photo by Andrea HanksBy BEN GITTLESON, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump was loudly booed by members of the public on Thursday while visiting the casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who has been lying in repose outside the Supreme Court.
Trump, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, stood behind the court’s massive columns at the top of the court steps as people from the bottom of the steps loudly booed him and chanted, “Vote him out!”
Members of the public have been waiting for hours to file past the flag-draped casket, which will on Friday be moved to the Capitol building where Ginsburg will lie in state.
President Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at the Supreme Court to pay their respects to #RBG.
Sound on to listen to the crowd react as they realize he’s there.https://t.co/8Y3m4usODV pic.twitter.com/rQU8F8seew
— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) September 24, 2020
Standing a block away during the president’s visit, they also shouted, “Honor her wish,” according to a reporter traveling with Trump.
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” Ginsburg reportedly had said, her granddaughter told the BBC.
On Monday, without evidence, Trump baselessly asserted it had been made up by Democrats.
Later Thursday, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany dismissed the protesters. “The chants were appalling but certainly to be expected when you’re in the heart of the swamp,” she told reporters.
Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, stopped by the court on Wednesday to visit the casket.
This moment was followed by chants of “vote him out.”#RBG pic.twitter.com/ggrGqdRkIF
— Dan Linden (@DanLinden) September 24, 2020
Ginsburg, an associate justice who became a historic influence on the court and an American icon, died on Friday. She was 87.
While Trump praised Ginsburg in the wake of her death, the next day his campaign began fundraising off the Supreme Court vacancy she left, and the president gleefully led chants of “fill that seat” at a campaign rally.
Trump and Senate Republicans have moved quickly to confirm a justice tor replace Ginsburg, with Trump pushing for a vote before the Nov. 3 election.
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