Death of the dean of the US Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Trump hails a "colossus of law"

The dean of the American Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, died Friday at the age of 87, announced the high court, a blow for the progressives likely to upset the balance of the institution in the profit of the conservatives durably .

In his honor, the White House flag is at half mast.

"Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg died this afternoon at her home, surrounded by her family, of complications from metastasized cancer of the pancreas," the court said.

The question of replacing "RBG", as the magistrate is called, will weigh heavily on the end of the presidential campaign.

Reaction from Trump, Biden and the President of the Senate

President Trump praised the "exceptional life" of the Supreme Court judge, whom he called a "colossus of the law", after learning after a campaign trip to Minnesota of her passing.

"She just died? I was not aware. She has led an exceptional life," responded the Republican president, who was on stage giving a speech in the town of Bemidji in Minnesota, at the time when the high court announced the death of the judge. 

Donald Trump did not learn the news of his death until the end of his campaign rally, a few minutes before boarding the presidential plane.

He then praised in a statement a "brilliant spirit" whose decisions, in particular on the rights of women, "have excited all Americans."

"Fighting to the end", this progressive magistrate "has shown that we can disagree without being disagreeable," he added.

Democratic candidate Joe Biden wished him to see the next judge at the Supreme Court of the United States, who will succeed Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed by the president-elect in the ballot on November 3.

"Voters must choose the president, and the president must nominate a judge for the Senate," he said in a press statement.

For his part, the Republican Senate leader said he would organize a vote in the upper house of Congress if Donald Trump named a successor to the dean before the November 3 election.

"We have pledged to work with President Trump and support his agenda, including his remarkable choices for federal judicial positions," Mitch McConnell said in a statement.

"Once again, we will keep our promise. President Trump's candidate will be entitled to a vote in the United States Senate."

Amazing popularity

The best-known judge of the progressive Supreme Court quartet, Ruth Bader Ginsburg was appointed to the high court in 1993 by President Bill Clinton.

She enjoyed astonishing popularity given the austerity traditionally associated with the nine Supreme Court justices.

This can be explained in particular because Judge Ginsburg was a pioneer in the struggle for the emancipation of women in the 1970s. She then espoused other developments in American society, approaching younger people on issues such as abortion or same-sex marriage.

The American Democrats feared more than anything a failure of Ruth Bader Ginsburg because President Donald Trump will certainly try to replace her with a conservative judge, as soon as the moment of mourning has passed.

This new arrival would undoubtedly be confirmed by a vote in the Senate, where the Republicans retained their majority in the legislative elections of 2018. The Supreme Court already has a majority of five conservative judges.

"RBG" had already been treated for several cancers, which appeared over a period of two decades, particularly in the pancreas and colon.