Ginsburg Makes History as the First Woman To Lie in State at the US Capitol
The late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg posthumously shattered another glass ceiling this week when she became the first woman and the first Jewish person to lie in state at the United States Capitol.
Ginsburg’s flag-cloaked casket was carried into the Capitol on Friday morning.
The casket of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrives at the US Capitol, where she becomes the first woman to lie in state https://t.co/XEUnWDlRgy pic.twitter.com/tDe078ip3P
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) September 25, 2020
Her casket was moved from the Supreme Court where President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited to pay their respects.
The president did not get a warm reception when he stood before Ginsburg’s casket — shouts of “vote him out” rose from the crowd at the foot of the Supreme Court steps.
Asked about the chants, Trump later said, “Well, I think that was just a political chant. We could hardly hear it from where we were. Somebody said there was some chanting, but they were right next to the media.”
Ginsburg became the second individual to lie in state in the U.S. Capitol this year. Civil Rights icon Rep. John Lewis laid in state over the summer.
Among those who paid their respects to Ginsburg in the Capitol were Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden. Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris also visited Ginsburg’s casket in the Capitol.
Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden pay their respects to judicial icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she lies in state at the U.S. Capitol. https://t.co/Vu9w3lHBXW pic.twitter.com/jukuJqMU9f
— ABC News (@ABC) September 25, 2020
Harris praised Ginsburg’s final broken barrier, writing on Twitter, “Even after her passing, icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg continues to make history.”
The death of the justice has shifted the entire arena of the campaign season as Trump rushes to nominate and seat a ninth justice on the Supreme Court before the election.
The president said on Wednesday that he believes the 2020 election will be before the court, telling reporters, “I think this will end up in the Supreme Court and I think it’s very important that we have nine Justices and I think the system is going to go very quickly.”