As Donald Trump prepares to announce his candidate for Vice President, a Supreme Court Justice is apologizing for her comments about the presumptive republican nominee. But experts say despite this, the damage is done.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is known for being outspoken, a trailblazer or women’s rights. But Thursday, the Justice backtracked, issuing a statement calling her comments about Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump “ill-advised.”
“It certainly was surprising and perhaps even unwise,” Santa Clara Law’s Deep Gulasekaram said. “It’s certainly a little naïve to think Supreme Court Justices don’t hold those political opinions. They’re people; they vote; they have first amendment rights just like everybody else. But it’s mostly about our perception about Supreme Court Justices and what they should and should not be doing.”
The associate law professor says there’s not much the candidate can do about Ginsburg even if he became president. That didn’t stop him from firing back, tweeting: “If I win the presidency, we will swamp Justice Ginsburg with real judges and real legal opinions!”
NBC Bay Area political analyst Larry Gerston calls the Justice’s comments the “best gift” Ginsburg could have given Trump.
“It allows Trump and others to say, ‘Look, see what we’re up against? You better vote for me because if you don’t, we’re going to have more Ginsburg in the Court,’” Gerston said.
In the statement, Justice Ginsburg says she regrets comments she made about Trump, but political experts say there are no take-backs.
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Some legal experts also say Ginsburg may have to recuse herself in future cases because of the controversy, but Gulasekaram says, “This does not seem to be the grounds for recusal. Again, it’s more about what we think of how justices should act, and whether this violates boundaries. But those boundaries may be changing.”
There was no follow-up tweet from Trump after Ginsburg’s apology. His only comment Thursday afternoon was a tweet announcing he would delay the formal announcement of his vice presidential pick in light of the attacks in France.
