With the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last month and the subsequent confirmation of now-Justice Amy Coney Barrett to replace her, the nation's highest court now holds a 6-3 conservative majority.
President Donald Trump is seeking to use that to his advantage, even if it undermines the Court's supposed impartiality.
For months, Trump and his allies have worked to sow distrust of the 100+ year old option to vote by mail in American elections. With the stage potentially set for a dispute of the results, the infamously litigious Trump has said in the past that he expects the Supreme Court to end up deciding the winner of the 2020 election.
According to a late night tweet fired off by the President early Friday morning, he's banking on that—and telling the Justices that their bench would be sullied by additional seats if Democratic nominee Joe Biden is elected.
If Sleepy Joe Biden is actually elected President, the 4 Justices (plus1) that helped make such a ridiculous win possible would be relegated to sitting on not only a heavily PACKED COURT, but probably a REVOLVING COURT as well. At least the many new Justices will be Radical Left!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 30, 2020
The President claimed that the "4 Justices (plus1)" who would make the "ridiculous win" possible would open up a path for Biden to expand the court if elected. In reality, only Congress can expand the number of seats on the nation's highest court.
The President's bizarre tweet indicated that he still expects the Supreme Court—a third of which is comprised of his picks—to deliver an election victory to him.
This is the President of the United States telling the Supreme Court to deliver the election to him. Insulting to them. Even more insulting to Americans. Banana Republic stuff. Dark days. https://t.co/mz6lstRQIx
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) October 30, 2020
Strange it is almost like Trump thinks SCOTUS selects the President and he does not believe these are non-partisan Justices -- very odd https://t.co/xS1sh2GMNT
— Steven Strauss (@Steven_Strauss) October 30, 2020
Trump makes clear he's banking on the Supreme Court, rather than voters, to prevent a Biden win >>> https://t.co/k5yrhbADer
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 30, 2020
Wait, is Trump saying the Supreme Court has a vested interest in the election outcome? https://t.co/9pq89QL4Rm
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) October 30, 2020
Trump is now straight up telling the justices "do you like having enormous, unaccountable power? Then you better steal the election for me or you could lose it." https://t.co/5JZKpHTZRz
— Ian Millhiser (@imillhiser) October 30, 2020
Conservatism pre-Trump (mostly): The federal courts ought not legislate from the bench; an imperial judiciary is unhealthy for democracy, the other branches, self-government...and for the courts.
Trump conservatism: The Supreme Court should decide the presidential election. https://t.co/cnLfJN5XnE
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 30, 2020
That the President sent the tweet at three in the morning didn't assure anyone of his stability.
At 3 AM, threatening the Supreme Court. Yup, totally normal behavior. https://t.co/U6XwSk9VsX
— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) October 30, 2020
Clearly @realDonaldTrump stayed up to get the overnight tracking poll. Rage tweeting in the middle of the night indicates the numbers were really bad. https://t.co/95HMOQWbQg
— Joe Lockhart (@joelockhart) October 30, 2020
Nothin' to see here, just an American “President" threatenin' Supreme Court justices at 3:00 in the mornin'. https://t.co/tG1xINPnxj
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) October 30, 2020
The Presidential election is on November third, but early voting is underway in at least 40 states. Short of anything but a landslide Biden victory, the Trump team is expected to challenge the results in the nation's highest court if Trump doesn't win.
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@BillAckman/Twitter