US supreme court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg has said she regrets ill-advisedly calling Republican presidential contender Donald Trump a "faker" and expressing fears about a Trump presidency.
Justice Ginsburg (83) was roundly criticised for over-stepping judicial boundaries and entering the political fray during the US presidential race by making disparaging remarks about the New York billionaire in a series of interviews over recent days.
“On reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them,” the judge said in a statement that stopped short of apologising to the businessman or retracting the comments.
“Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In future I will be more circumspect.”
The judge told the Associated Press in an article published on Friday, “I don’t want to think about that possibility, but if it should be, then everything is up for grabs,” when asked to consider a Trump victory.
‘Notorious RBG’ Ms Ginsburg, a feisty and outspoken interlocutor in Supreme Court arguments and unashamed defender of liberal values, has become a hero of American progressives, earning the octogenarian the nickname the “Notorious RBG”.
In an interview published in the New York Times on Sunday, Ms Ginsburg, the oldest jurist on the court, hinted at her concern at what the US might become under a Trump presidency, suggesting that she may have to emigrate.
“I can’t imagine what the country would be with Donald Trump as our president. For the country, it could be four years. For the court, it could be – I don’t even want to contemplate that,” she said.
The remark was an apparent reference to the belief that the next president will likely set the liberal-conservative balance on the court with a series of new appointments.
The court is a battleground issue in the presidential race given that the ninth seat, left vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February, remains unfilled amid a standoff between US president Barack Obama and congressional Republicans.
Ms Ginsburg joked in the New York Times interview that if her husband were alive, he might have said: "It's time for us to move to New Zealand. "
The judge, who was appointed to the highest US court by Democratic president Bill Clinton in 1993, escalated her criticism of Mr Trump when she called the reality-TV star "a faker" who "has no consistency about him" in an interview with CNN on Monday.
“He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego,” she said. “How has he gotten away with not turning over his tax returns? The press seems to be very gentle with him on that.”
Widespread condemnation Her remarks drew widespread condemnation.
"I think it's highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly. I couldn't believe it when I saw it," said Mr Trump, who was to announce his vice-presidential candidate in New York on Friday. He has since announced that he was calling off the event, "in light of the horrible attack" in Nice.
He later tweeted: “Justice Ginsburg of the US Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot – resign!”
The editorial boards of the Washington Post and the New York Times sided with Mr Trump, criticising her for politicising her role.
The Post said that while her criticisms of Mr Trump were valid, they “were still much, much better left unsaid by a member of the Supreme Court.” The Times called on her to “to drop the political punditry and name-calling.”
The tabloid New York Post, commenting that the judge had lived up to another of her nicknames this week, ran a front-page photograph of Ms Ginsburg super-imposed on an image of Star Wars villain Darth Vader next to the headline: “Darth Bader”.
