(photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Do you need your rage-o-meter to get revved up this morning? Maybe a weekend of social media posts from the women in your life explaining how they have been subjected to sexual harassment or sexual assault wasn’t enough. Well, now Donald Trump is predicting he’ll appoint four Supreme Court justices before his time in office is up.
According to a report from Axios, Trump does some nifty math to get to that number. He’s, of course, counting the appointment of Neil Gorsuch. Then he’s counting on Anthony Kennedy to live up to the rumors and retire (if Justice Kennedy cares about his legacy on gay rights, he better stay right where President Reagan put him). But to get to the last two appointments he wants, he has to kill off some female jurists:
“Ok,” one source told Trump, “so that’s two. Who are the others?”
“Ginsburg,” Trump replied. “What does she weigh? 60 pounds?”
“Who’s the fourth?” the source asked.
“Sotomayor,” Trump said, referring to the relatively recently-appointed Obama justice, whose name is rarely, if ever, mentioned in speculation about the next justice to be replaced. “Her health,” Trump explained. “No good. Diabetes.”
Of course Trump would just love it if a pair of powerful, outspoken women got out of his way.
Listen, prognosticating on the health of Justice Ginsburg is practically a cottage industry. She’s an elderly woman whose age is clearly wearing on her. But, her workout regimen is no joke, so that — plus a lot of prayers and well wishes from liberals — will hopefully be enough to get her to survive this administration. But Justice Sotomayor’s Type-1 diabetes shows no signs of slowing her down. If you can’t grab ’em by the pussy, you might as well imagine them dead.
Frankly, this reads more like the president’s wish list of things he wants to happen. Fortunately, unlike healthcare, he can’t really sign an executive order to force anyone’s hand.
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Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).