Trump Wasn’t Told About Ginsburg’s Death During His Friday Rally Because Aides Feared Cultists Would Cheer

The New York Times reports:

When news broke on Friday that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died, President Trump was just five minutes into a campaign rally in Minnesota and aides opted not to pass word to him onstage. If he announced the death of the liberal justice from the lectern, they feared the crowd would cheer.

But cheers that would have looked unseemly one night were welcomed in another form a night later as the next rally crowd chanted, “Fill that seat!”

To a president lagging in the polls, the chance to fill a Supreme Court vacancy has become a political lifeline, a chance to mobilize supporters and talk about something, anything, other than the coronavirus that has killed 200,000 Americans.

“When news broke on Friday that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died, Trump was just 5 minutes into a MN campaign rally, and aides opted not to pass word to him onstage. If he announced the death of the liberal justice, they feared the crowd would cheer.” https://t.co/9C6uMV36mJ

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) September 23, 2020