Trump was seemingly the last to hear about Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death
When news broke that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died Friday after battling pancreatic cancer, tributes from politicians and Americans all over the country came pouring in within minutes.
One voice conspicuously missing? President Trump's.
Trump was speaking at a rally in Minnesota when the Supreme Court announced Ginsburg's death. And while he certainly can't be blamed for failing to check Twitter while giving one of his signature rambling speeches, as the hour wore on, it became increasingly strange that the president was seemingly one of the few top lawmakers who hadn't heard the major update.
As NBC News' Garrett Haake put it, the "political earth has shifted under his feet" during the course of his rally, and he was seemingly without a clue.
I cannot describe how surreal it is to watch President Trump give his generic rally speech tonight in Minnesota. Meanwhile the entire political earth has shifted under his feet while he’s been on stage, and he has no idea.
— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) September 18, 2020
Ginsburg's death constitutes "political earth," of course, because with a vacancy on the Supreme Court, Trump and the Republican-majority Senate are now likely to push forward with a conservative nominee to replace her before the November presidential election. With a new Trump-picked justice, the court's conservative majority would be further solidified for years to come.
Trump told the crowd about his belief that Sean Hannity should win a Pulitzer Prize, called Joe Biden "Sleepy Joe," and discussed the latest poll numbers, all while pundits and Americans everywhere were meanwhile considering the sudden change to the 2020 race. When he started ruminating on the power of the president to influence decades of judicial balance on the Supreme Court, attendees began yelling "Ginsburg is dead," video shows.
Trump is still unaware of RBG's passing. Here he is moments ago talking about SCOTUS as people yell "Ginsburg is dead!" to try to clue him in pic.twitter.com/csPDyTN5oF
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 19, 2020
At last, after Trump exited the stage nearly two hours after the court's announcement, reporters seemingly informed Trump of Ginsburg's passing. "She just died? Wow. I didn't know that," he responded. He said he was "sad to hear" the news and praised her as an "amazing woman."
President Trump says he just found out that RBG died. "Just now?" he responded when asked about her death. “She led an amazing life. What else can you say? She was an amazing woman — whether you agree or not — she was an amazing woman who led an amazing life.”
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) September 19, 2020
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