Trump Confuses When Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Died During Interview With Fox’s Bartiromo

President Donald Trump confused the timing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Wednesday morning.

Ginsburg, the second woman to ever serve on the nation’s highest court and the first Jewish woman, was nominated by President Bill Clinton in 1993. She passed away at the age of 87 on September 18, 2020. Trump, who was in the last year of his first presidential term at the time, nominated Justice Amy Coney Barrett to fill Ginsburg’s seat.

Wednesday, Trump was interviewed by Bartiromo on Mornings with Maria, and was asked about a potential new vacancy on the Supreme Court:

BARTIROMO: Are you expecting to name another Supreme Court Justice? The speculation is that Justice [Samuel] Alito will step down this summer.

TRUMP: In many ways I have to tell you, while it’s an honor, I think he’s one of the great justices of all time, so, you know, it would be nice to say I have somebody for 40 years. Justice Alito is an unbelievable justice and a brilliant judge — justice. He gets the country. He does what’s right for the country. It’s the law, and he goes by as much as anybody, but he gets to the point that’s good for our country. So when you tell me that one way you should think, oh I’m thrilled, but he’s so good.

BARTIROMO: But if there is there a vacancy, do you have a shortlist of other people you would name?

TRUMP: I do.

BARTIROMO: You do? Do you expect will see change by year-end?

TRUMP: You mean on the Supreme Court?

BARTIROMO: Yes.

TRUMP:  I don’t know. I think Justice Alito is in very good physical health, as you mentioned his name.

BARTIROMO: What about Clarence Thomas? I’m just thinking about the oldest Republicans.

TRUMP: There’s a theory, you reach a certain age and you give up your seat — if you have the president. Well, look what happens to Justice Ginsburg. She was not exactly a young woman. The election was taken. They had a Democrat who could have appointed a liberal justice — and the liberals do stick together, that’s one thing about those justices, they stick together like glue, not like the Republicans.

But she decided that she was gonna live forever and about two minutes after the election, she went out, and I got to appoint somebody. So you make the case that, at a certain time, you give it up so that you can have a justice — you know, the average is like 40 years, it’s a long time — so that your ideology, your policies, your everything would be of the kind that we like.

But it’s probably not easy to give up for people, you know? They reach a certain age — Ginsburg could not do it, and she really herself within the Democrat party. People are very angry at her because I got to appoint people instead of Biden.

BARTIROMO: So you don’t know if you’re going to be naming — putting another nomination forward?

TRUMP: No, I don’t know — it’s possible. In theory, in theory, it is two or three, they tell me, if you just read statistics, it could be two, could be three, could be one, I don’t know. I’m prepared to do it, but when you mention Alito — he is a great justice.

As mentioned above, Ginsburg did not die “two minutes after the election;” she passed away the September before the November 2020 election, while Trump was president and it was unknown if he or Biden would win.

Bartiromo did not correct Trump on the timing of Ginsburg’s death and moved on to the next topic.

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!