President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump stopped by the Supreme Court to pay their respects to former Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer.
Trump and Ginsburg’s relationship was tense and she reportedly said he would not complete his first term in office while she was alive.
Trump and his wife donned cloth face coverings as they stood at the top of the steps flanking Ginsburg’s flag-draped coffin, their heads bowed in prayer on Thursday morning.
But the somber moment was punctuated by booing and jeering from thousands of mourners who lined up to view Ginsburg’s casket.
“Honor her wish!” they yelled, in reference to the alleged deathbed statement asking to delay filling her seat until 2021.
“My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed,” Ginsburg allegedly told her grand daughter.
“Vote him out,” the crowd chanted. There were also shouts of “Breonna Taylor,” in reference to the 29-year-old EMT who was killed when plainclothes officers served a drug warrant at her apartment on March 13.
One officer was charged with shooting into a nearby apartment. But there were no charges directly related to Breonna’s death.
The Grand Jury’s decision sparked renewed rioting and violence in the streets of Louisville, Kentucky on Wednesday. Two Louisville police officers were wounded by gunfire. One man is in custody. The two officers are expected to survive.
Meanwhile, President Trump will announce his Supreme Court pick on Saturday. Topping the list is Amy Coney Barrett, a circuit judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in New Orleans, and a devout Catholic.
The 48-year-old married mom of two was appointed to the bench by Trump in 2017.
Vice President Mike Pence told ABC News Wednesday that he considers Barrett’s strong religious values an asset, rather than a liability.
Trump has the 50 Senate votes he needs to confirm his Supreme Court pick, meaning Ginsburg’s seat will be filled before the elections in November.
