President Trump was jeered by protesters this morning as he paid his respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, standing silently by her coffin at the top of the Supreme Court steps as a vigorous chant of “Vote him out!” erupted on the street below.
Wearing a face mask — unusual for him — and a blue tie instead of his trademark red power tie, Trump stared ahead and closed his eyes at times near the justice’s flag-draped coffin.
But the quiet of the moment was punctured by the loud boos and shouts of demonstrators about a block away.
Along with the chant of “Vote him out!” were calls of “Honor her wish!” — a reference to Justice Ginsburg’s reported deathbed request that her replacement not be confirmed until a “new president is installed.”
The heckling was clearly audible on television.
Asked later in the day by a reporter about the jeering, Trump said he could “hardly hear it.”
“Somebody said there was some chanting, but they were right next to the media,” he said. “But we really could hardly hear too much. We heard — we heard a sound, but it wasn’t very strong.”
Earlier, the White House press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, condemned the jeering protesters.
Trump has angered many supporters of Justice Ginsburg by quickly announcing that he would nominate a new conservative justice to replace her before the election in November, and by questioning, without evidence, whether her “dying wish” that another president appoint her replacement was real or concocted by top Democrats
When he travels around the country, Trump typically only meets with supportive crowds.
At his rally in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Trump remarked it had been a while since someone heckled him at a campaign event.
“You don’t see that much. I don’t want to bring it on, but you don’t see it much anymore,” he said.
Trump was also booed and heckled during Game 5 of the World Series last fall.