Chris Ruddy, a confidant of President Donald Trump, told Business Insider in a Monday interview that Trump should cut a deal with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. His proposition: Replace her on the bench with Judge Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's choice to fill Justice Antonin Scalia's vacated seat in 2016.
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TOP TRUMP CONFIDANT: Trump should make a deal with Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Chris Ruddy told Business Insider that President Donald Trump should cut a deal with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and replace her on the bench with Merrick Garland.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Ruddy, who wrote about his opposition to the Senate's invoking the so-called nuclear option to help get Judge Neil Gorsuch confirmed to the Supreme Court, said Trump nominating Garland to the court would be a "huge move."
"I think they made a big mistake by pulling the nuclear option," Ruddy said. "I wrote about it. I said they should not have done it. I think that he still should pick Merrick Garland and do a deal. Ruth Bader Ginsburg wants to retire, and I think they should swap her out, give her an offer where they would put Merrick Garland on the Supreme Court."
"They would remove a very liberal Democrat with a moderate, consensus Democrat, who I think Garland is," Ruddy added. "And I think it would be a huge move and a sign for Trump that he's willing to break through the political ice."
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Ruddy pointed to Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is rumored to be considering retirement from the court, as the next justice who could feasibly be replaced by a more conservative, "Gorsuch-like nominee."
The Newsmax CEO, who is also a member of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club, visited Trump in the Oval Office after the president delivered his February address to a joint session of Congress. Ruddy, who has known Trump for more than a decade, says he speaks often with the president.
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