MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Internet asks why didn't she quit under Obama after he says next president should fill spot

In a statement responding to Ginsburg's demise, Obama praised her as a 'warrior for gender equality' who showed 'unwavering faith in our democracy and its ideals'

Former President Barack Obama has urged the Senate not to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg's vacant seat until the next president is inaugurated. However, several social media users have responded asking why the late Supreme Court judge did not retire under his administration and prevent such a scenario in the first place. In a statement responding to Ginsburg's demise, Obama praised her as a "warrior for gender equality" who showed "unwavering faith in our democracy and its ideals."

The former president also noted how Ginsburg's "most fervent wish" before her death was that her replacement is nominated by the next president. The celebrated judge died on September 18 at age 87.

"Four and a half years ago, when Republicans refused to hold a hearing or an up-or-down vote on Merrick Garland, they invented the principle that the Senate shouldn’t fill an open seat on the Supreme Court before a new president was sworn in," Obama said.

"A basic principle of the law — and of everyday fairness — is that we apply rules with consistency, and not based on what’s convenient or advantageous in the moment," he continued. "The rule of law, the legitimacy of our courts, the fundamental workings of our democracy all depend on that basic principle. As votes are already being cast in this election, Republican Senators are now called to apply that standard."

Obama added that the court's decisions in the coming years were "too consequential to future generations for courts to be filled through anything less than an unimpeachable process."

Nonetheless, several fans of RBG — as well as her critics — questioned why the late justice did not step down under the Obama administration and secure a liberal replacement. "Was it ego that made #RBG NOT step down under Obama even though she was ALREADY dealing with grave health challenges? A liberal replacement THEN would have eliminated all the Conservative death threats being tweeted out TODAY," Former Leigh County Commissioner Dean Browning tweeted. "Devil's advocate: if RBG had retired under Obama we would not be in this situation," commentator Xeni Jardin added.

"There were a lot of columns in 2014 from liberals urging RBG to retire; she pushed back thinking Obama couldn't get a replacement she'd like through the Democratic Senate. Rs won *9* seats that November and McConnell has been in charge of the Senate ever since," reporter Steven Dennis chimed in. "RBG should’ve retired under Obama if she wanted to protect all the great work she did. Because when you're 80-something and all the rights you’ve fought for your entire career depend on you being alive — quit while you’re ahead," comedian Sean Kent wrote.

While critics may wonder why Ginsburg chose to stand her ground, it's important to note that she has already responded to similar calls to retire in the past. In September 2019, the judge fired back at critics who said she should have retired while Obama was in office, thereby ensuring a liberal replacement.

“When that suggestion is made, I ask the question: Who do you think the president could nominate that could get through the Republican Senate? Who you would prefer on the court than me?” Ginsburg had said during an interview with NPR’s Nina Totenberg in New York City. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a cultural and feminist icon who served a staggering 27 years as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, becoming its most prominent member. The Supreme Court announced her death underlining the cause as complications from metastatic cancer of the pancreas.