Trump to “Move Quickly” in Appointing Female Successor to Ruth Bader Ginsburg

WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com - President Donald Trump stated his plan to nominate a woman to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who passed away on Saturday.

US Democrats vehemently oppose President Donald Trump’s fervent desire to “move quickly” on the process.

The topic of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s successor is likely to dominate the US presidential campaigns alongside other hot-button issues.

Read also: America in Mourning Following Death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

The handling of the coronavirus pandemic and America's ongoing racial reckoning are all contentious issues for both presidential candidates ahead of the November 3 election.

"I think it's going to move quickly actually," Trump told reporters outside the White House Saturday, adding that he thought his choice would be made "next week".

Addressing a rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina later that day, he took an impromptu poll from the crowd, asking them to cheer for either a woman or a man to be his pick. The crowd cheered considerably louder for the former.

"That's a very accurate poll because that's the way I feel. It will be a woman. A very talented, very brilliant woman, who I haven't chosen yet — but we have numerous women on the list."

The 87-year-old Ginsburg, immensely popular among Democrats, died Friday after a long battle with cancer.

Read also: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Updates Public on Her Cancer Diagnosis

Her death, just weeks before the presidential election, offers Republicans a chance to lock in a conservative majority for decades to come, on a court where justices are appointed for life.

The stakes are high as the decision could affect such weighty issues as abortion, healthcare, gun control and gay rights.

They are pushed even higher in a bitter election year when the justices can play a decisive role in legal wrangling over a contested result — such as when they ruled in George W. Bush's favor to end the 2000 election debacle.

Trump has already named two justices during his term as president, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, giving conservatives a 5-4 majority before Ginsburg's death, though that does not guarantee rulings in Trump's favor — there have been several recent examples of conservatives siding with their progressive colleagues.

Trump, who is lagging in the polls behind Democratic opponent Joe Biden, has another powerful incentive to move ahead: providing a jolt of enthusiasm among his anti-abortion and evangelical supporters.