On Monday, the liberal media breathed a collective sigh of relief over 85-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s announcement over the weekend that she plans to stay on the high court for at least another five years. The coverage demonstrated how even the thought of Donald Trump naming the liberal justice’s replacement strikes terror into the hearts of reporters.
“Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she hopes to stay on the bench for a while longer,” Today show co-host Hoda Kotb enthusiastically announced in a 7:30 a.m. ET news brief. “On Sunday, the 85-year-old told CNN, quote, ‘My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, stepped down when he was 90, so I think I have about at least five more years,’” she explained.
On CBS This Morning, fill-in co-host Anthony Mason told viewers: “Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she isn’t going anywhere any time soon. The justice reportedly said yesterday she hopes to stay on the bench for at least another five years.” Fellow co-host Norah O’Donnell gushed: “You know, no matter what your views on her rulings are, you gotta admit, they call her the ‘Notorious RBG’ for a reason. She sets the standards in working out, being smart, you know, well into your late 80s, it’s great.”
Fill-in co-host Alex Wagner emphasized: “A lot of eyes on Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s workout regime, regimen because, well, we’ll see. A lot hangs in the balance.”
On MSNBC in the afternoon, anchor Andrea Mitchell predictably touted the story and turned to left-wing Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart for comment: “Jonathan, RBG, five more years? We’ve seen the workouts. We’ve seen her work ethic, which is extraordinary....obviously someone who is determined to stay as long as she feels that she can work effectively as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.”
Capehart hailed the news:
Right, and all those cheers you hear, it’s coming from the Democratic Party and progressives who desperately want RBG to stay. One, because she is held in such high regard. But, two, if she leaves, that would cement President Trump’s hold and conservatives’ hold on the Supreme Court for generations far into the future.
“I always joke that I sometimes envision or hope that Ruth Bader – Justice Ginsburg sleeps in bubble wrap, walks around in bubble wrap, because I want nothing to happen to her. And I think that’s a sentiment that a lot of people – a lot of people have,” he added.
On his CNN show in the 1:00 p.m. ET hour, anchor Wolf Blitzer announced: “At least five more years, that’s the plan for the U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The 85-year-old court veteran says she’s not ready to retire any time soon, at least not until she hits 90.” He then noted that “Her comments come as the fight intensifies over the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the high court.”
Moments later, Blitzer teed up Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen to react to Ginsburg’s remarks. The Tennessee lawmaker responded: “She survived two cancers, she can survive anything. She’s physically active, she’s mentally strong, she’s brilliant, we need her for at least two and a half years. I think she makes it and she serves America admirably.”
The media love affair with Ginsburg has reached a whole new level of adulation in recent years, culminating with the fawning promotion of a new documentary about the liberal jurist a few months ago.
