White House: Ginsburg isn't called 'The Notorious RBG for nothing'

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest is unsurprised by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s decision to wade into the murky waters of election year politics.

The 83-year-old associate justice made waves last week when she attacked presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and said she didn’t want to think about the possibility of him being elected. Asked during Wednesday’s press briefing if the White House thought it appropriate for Ginsburg to be making such comments, Earnest said, “she didn’t earn the nickname ‘The Notorious RBG’ for nothing.”


Beyond that, Earnest declined to comment on Ginsburg’s remarks. He referenced previous comments made by former Justice Antonin Scalia during a Supreme Court hearing that were interpreted by some as racist. The press secretary didn’t specify which of Scalia’s comments he was referring to, but he seemed to be alluding to remarks from December 2015, when the famously conservative justice suggested that some African-American students might be more successful in a “slower-track school.”

“At that point I declined to wade into that criticism and I think I’ll pursue a similar approach in this instance,” Earnest said.

Later, a reporter relayed to Earnest comments Trump made on Twitter earlier Wednesday in which the Manhattan billionaire called on Ginsburg to resign and said her mind was "shot." Earnest disputed Trump's claim that Ginsburg, the oldest justice currently serving on the Supreme Court, had slipped mentally.

“I would not call her competence into question. I think anybody who’s observed her, she’s done her work," Earnest said. "Whether you agree with her or not, and whether you agree with every ruling she has issued, I think over the course of her career, she’s demonstrated a keen intellect and understanding of the law and a commitment to understanding that it’s applied fairly to every American citizen.”