I was on The Ingraham Angle on Fox News to discuss Justice Ruth Ginsburg calling out the Left’s tactics towards the Supreme Court.
TRANSCRIPT
LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: Good evening, everyone. I’m Laura Ingraham. This is a special edition of “The Ingraham Angle” from Washington. And we begin tonight with an afternoon announcement from the Supreme Court that sent shockwaves through the nation’s capital.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg one of the longest-serving justices has just completed three weeks of radiation treatment for a malignant tumor on her pancreas. Now, while the court suggests in its note that the tumor has been successfully isolated. Anyone who knows much about this horrific disease can tell you that this is pretty dire.
Justice Ginsburg has been committed liberal justice, but also an inspiration and a fighter her entire life, including against other cancer diagnoses, incredibly strong. And she’s impressed a lot of people with her grit and determination through these illnesses. And we are rooting for her speedy recovery and her – we wish for her family and her loved ones as they’re with her by her side.
But this will naturally set the political chattering class off on another fight over what could be another potential Supreme Court justice nomination fight. And if she would have to leave the court for health reasons what would happen? Well, here to talk about this, what might lie ahead, is Gayle Trotter, Judicial Crisis Network Spokesperson.
Gayle, your thoughts on this. Of course, we all hope – and look she’s gone through cancer bouts before and then she’s out of play the next week, I mean she’s amazing. But what do you think about how this could implicate the political debate going into a 2020 contest that’s sure to be drag-out fight?
GAYLE TROTTER, JUDICIAL CRISIS NETWORK SPOKESPERSON: Well, we are praying for her good health. And as you mentioned, she has inspired a lot of people from her amazing spirit of perseverance as she’s battled these medical challenges before.
But what’s disconcerting and worrisome is that the Left has created such an unhinged response to these nomination fights. And it’s interesting the Left has gone further to the left of Justice Ginsburg.
The Left has gone further to the left of Justice Ginsburg.—Gayle Trotter
She has called them out. She said that she would like to see the nomination process and confirmation process be less politicized, less ideological. And she has spoken up and defended Justice Kavanaugh who was the most recent victim of this type of smear.
INGRAHAM: In fact, Ginsburg has spoken out recently about the Democrats threat to pack the court. In other words, expand from nine to a larger number of justices. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUTH BADER GINSBURG, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: There is no fixed number in the Constitution. So this Court has had as few as five, as many as 10. Nine seems to be a good number and it’s been that way for a long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: That was just a few days before her July 31st diagnosis of the malignant tumor and she gave that interview with Nina Totenberg. But – I mean, even she’s hitting back on them.
TROTTER: She is, and she’s right. She has really called out the Left for their tactics and we saw this with your former boss Justice Thomas, we saw it with Judge Bork. We saw an attempt to do it with Judge Alito, even Justice Gorsuch had a lot of smears against him.
She has really called out the Left for their tactics.—Gayle Trotter
And so I think as we are thinking about the vacancy process, it’s not just about the Supreme Court, it also this past week has gone down even to the District Court. We saw Rachel Maddow trying to smear Steve Menashi for things that he had written–
INGRAHAM: Oh my gosh. I saw that. I mean, people don’t know what this is a Court of Appeals and we have you know 11 courts – Courts of Appeals and across the country. But people don’t realize those fights are just as – they’re important. They’re not the Supreme Court, but they’re really important. They’re smearing people.
We got to get to this so because, Schumer has said, Gayle, don’t even think about bringing up a Supreme Court Justice nominee during an election year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y.: Our Republican colleagues in the Senate should follow the rule they set in 2016, not to consider a Supreme Court Justice in an election year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Well, McConnell said, basically watch us. What do you think would happen? They’d call someone up.
TROTTER: Well, you know, Laura, it’s a two key operation. So it’s President Trump’s responsibility to nominate for any judicial vacancies while he’s President and it’s the Congress – the Senate’s job to decide whether or not to take it up and to vote to confirm–
INGRAHAM: McConnell indicates that – yes, thanks Schumer, but we’re doing it.
TROTTER: I don’t think you should take advice from the opposition.
INGRAHAM: Yes. Well, Gayle thanks so much for being here with us tonight.
