WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited Supreme Court Thursday to pay their respects to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, according to the White House.
Trump, wearing a mask, was met with loud and audible jeers from protesters at the Supreme Court as he arrived. Chants of "vote him out" and "honor her wish" broke out after protesters realized the president had arrived.
Ceremonies began Wednesday to honor the late Justice, who passed away Friday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Ginsburg will lie in repose at the Supreme Court Thursday before moving over to the U.S. Capitol to lie in state Friday.
Ginsburg will be the first woman and the first Jewish person to lie in state at the Capitol building.
Trump said that he will name Ginsburg's replacement at 5 p.m. on Saturday. Some of Trump's advisers reportedly encouraged him to name a nominee sooner, due to the looming presidential election, but he declined to do so until after memorial services for Ginsburg took place out of respect.
Despite their clashes in the past, Trump has taken a respectful tone toward Ginsburg after her passing, ordering flags to half-staff in her honor. However, he did cast doubt on her dying wish to be replaced until after the presidential election. NPR reported that Ginsburg told her granddaughter Clara Spera that "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
Trump said on Fox News that those words may have been "written by Adam Schiff, Schumer or Pelosi."
In an appearance on MSNBC, NPR reporter Nina Totenberg, who first reported Ginsburg's dying wish, confirmed the reporting about Ginsburg's dying wish, saying that others in the room witnessed her saying it, including her doctor. “I checked,” she said, “because I’m a reporter.”
Trump is reportedly considering multiple candidates to replace Ginsburg, including appellate Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
"To be born into a world that does not see you," Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt said of Ruth Bader Ginsburg at her memorial service on Wednesday, "and despite this, to be able to see beyond the world you are in, to imagine that something can be different—that is the job of a prophet."
"It is the rare prophet who not only imagines a new world, but also makes that new world a reality in her lifetime. This was the brilliance and vision of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg," Rabbi Holtzblatt added.
Rabbi Holtzblatt said Ginsburg's "life’s work" was "to insist that the Constitution deliver on its promise that ‘we the people’ would include all the people.”
Chief Justice John Roberts followed the Rabbi with a tribute to Ginsburg, giving an intimate view of the beloved Justice: “Among the words that best describe Ruth: Tough, brave, a fighter, a winner. But also thoughtful, careful, compassionate, honest.”
The sad occasion is brought together the remaining eight justices for the first time since the building was closed in March and they resorted to meetings by telephone.
Since her death Friday evening, people have been leaving flowers, notes, placards and all manner of Ginsburg paraphernalia outside the court in tribute to the woman who became known in her final years as the “Notorious RBG.” Court workers cleared away the items and cleaned the court plaza and sidewalk in advance of Wednesday’s ceremony.
Ginsburg was 87.