Waiting until the White House is occupied by a Democrat in order to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg's empty seat on the Supreme Court, an alleged Ginsburg death wish, is not an option, President Trump has announced.
The United States needs a full court in order to deal with the mail-in ballot "scam," Trump is quoted as saying, indicating that he plans to replace Ginsburg as soon as possible.
"We need nine justices," the president told reporters during a press conference. "You need that. With the unsolicited millions of ballots that they're sending – it's a scam, it's a hoax. And the Democrats know it better than anybody else."
Trump was responding to a question about whether or not he plans to fill the vacant Supreme Court seat before the election, or wait as the Democrats are demanding to fill it at some point in the future.
Despite claims by the left that filling the seat now will "tear the country apart," Trump is more concerned about ensuring that the election itself is valid, which he says requires a complete Supreme Court.
"So you're going to need nine justices up there," Trump added. "I think it's going to be very important because what they're doing is a hoax, with the ballots."
"They're sending out tens of millions of ballots, unsolicited – not where they're being asked, but unsolicited. And that's a hoax, and you're going to need to have nine justices."
Trump planning to announce nominee by Saturday
During this same exchange, Trump indicated that he plans to announce his nominee, a woman, by 5 pm on Saturday. He is urging Senate Republicans to confirm this nominee as quickly as possible.
While some say that Trump is playing politics for his own gain, the fact of the matter is that the Supreme Court needs to be fully intact in order to deal with any potential election-related legal challenges.
Democrats used to agree with this sentiment when their "team" was in charge, but suddenly want to change the rules now that Trump is in office.
You may recall from the 2000 election between George Bush and Al Gore that the Supreme Court was needed during the infamous "hanging chad" recount saga. It has been 20 years since and this year's election is shaping up to be even more contentious.
"So doing it before the election would be a very good thing because you're going to probably see it, because what they're doing is trying to sow confusion and everything else," Trump further explained.
"And, you know, when they talk about Russia, China, and all these others, they will be able to do something here because paper ballots are very simple – whether they counterfeit them, forge them, do whatever you want. It's a very serious problem."
According to Trump, the Democrats know full well what they are doing, and they know that it is wrong. And yet they are desperate to unseat him and get one of their own on the Supreme Court bench, pulling out all the stops to make that happen.
Trump further indicated that he is constitutionally bound to make an appointment before the election, rather than keep the country waiting indefinitely.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has already said that he plans to move forward with confirming whomever Trump picks as the nominee. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.) is also on board, having indicated in a statement that he intends "to follow the Constitution and precedent in considering the president's nominee."
If this individual reaches the Senate floor, Romney is planning "to vote based upon their qualifications."
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