WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday cast an immediate spotlight on the vacancy on the high court, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell vowing to bring President Donald Trump’s nominee to a vote with just over six weeks before the election.
McConnell, in a statement released just over an hour after Ginsburg’s death was announced, declared unequivocally that Trump’s nominee would receive a vote, even though the Republican-controlled Senate did not give President Barack Obama’s pick a vote in the months ahead of the 2016 election.
The death was poised to upend the presidential election, further stirring passions on a deeply divided nation as the campaign pushed into its stretch run.
Trump took the stage for a Minnesota rally a few minutes before Ginsburg’s death was announced. He spoke for more than 90 minutes, never mentioning it, apparently not alerted to the development.
But he did say that whomever was elected in November would have the ability to potentially fill several Supreme vacancies, declaring, “This is going to be the most important election in the history of our country and we have to get it right.”
Democratic nominee Joe Biden, returning to Delaware from his own campaign stop in Minnesota, did not immediately release a statement on the death or vacancy.
