The Notorious RBG Gets Political

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s partisan rancor directed at Donald Trump has undoubtedly handed Republicans the upper hand should the presidential election, no matter how unlikely, be settled in the nation’s highest court (then again, see “Election 2000, hanging chad”).

The jabs at Trump from the 83-year-old justice, including calling him a “faker,” might force Ginsburg to recuse herself in the event of a “Bush v. Gore” scenario, when the election ended in a deadlock. The high court, now split 4-4 with the recent death of Antonin Scalia, would then be divided 4-3 with conservative judges holding the upper hand.

“Politicization, real or perceived, undermines public faith in the impartiality of the courts.”

“[Trump] has no consistency about him,” Ginsberg said in an interview with CNN on Monday. “He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego.” Ginsberg, appointed to the court by President Clinton in 1993, also criticized Trump for not making his tax returns public.

Trump immediately decried the partisan politicking from the Supreme Court justice. “I think it’s highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly,” Trump said in an interview with The New York Times. He was more Trumpian in a tweet: “Justice Ginsburg of the Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot — resign!”

[lz_third_party includes=”https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/753090242203283457″]

Ginsburg has consistently proven one of the most liberal justices on the bench — but it is not customary for judges at any level to make comments, give support, or show opposition in political campaigns.

“I think it is out of place in an appointed branch of government,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said Tuesday during a CNN town hall. “I don’t think that is something she should have done.”

Even liberal publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post published critiques of Ginsberg’s political jaunt.

“Washington is more than partisan enough without the spectacle of a Supreme Court justice throwing herself into the mosh pit,” read a NYT editorial published Wednesday.

“Politicization, real or perceived, undermines public faith in the impartiality of the courts,” The Washington Post’s editorial board said Tuesday.

Ginsberg has fallen into the din of politics and appears to be coming out the other side on the losing end — reputation tainted. But then again, if Trump wins, she may make good on her promise to abandon America and move to New Zealand, where she can spend her days kiwi-watching.