Mourners paying their respects to Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court on Thursday booed President Trump when he arrived at the tribute, chanting "vote him out."
Trump, who stood by Ginsburg's casket, fidgeted as he faced loud boos from an angry crowd who also chanted "honor her wish," in a reference to NPR's reporting of a statement that Ginsburg said to her granddaughter in her last days: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 18, lay in repose outside the courthouse on Wednesday and Thursday, with the public invited to pay their respects from behind barricades. She will be the first woman to lie in state in Statuary Hall at the Capitol during a small private ceremony Friday.
Trump and the first lady were standing behind Ginsburg's casket Thursday as boos and yells swelled from the crowd outside.
Tiarra Keeton and her mom Rona Keeton drove 12 hours from upstate New York to get to the Supreme Court in DC at 7:45 that morning, where they met people on the line to see Ginsburg lie in repose. Tiarra said the booing spread quickly when Trump arrived.
“One group started and then we all kind of joined in together because, you know, I feel like it's disrespectful for him to be here, quite frankly,” she told BuzzFeed News.
“You feel the same way about her that you felt about John Lewis, that you felt about John McCain, so keep the same energy,” she added.
Rona didn’t join in the chanting but said it was definitely a large-scale effort for the dozens of people standing on line.
“Everybody seemed to be on board," Rona said. “I mean, even before we could actually see him, they were booing. It seemed like everybody was on board to say, 'get away from her, goodbye, nobody invited you.' So I expect he will be saying once again ‘nobody likes me.’”
The president has shown deference to Ginsburg in her death that he notably did not extend to other prominent historic figures who have died during his presidency.
When Rep. John Lewis died in July, Trump did not attend the funeral or memorial services for the civil rights icon. Later when asked to reflect on Lewis's legacy, Trump said, "He didn’t come to my inauguration. He didn’t come to my State of the Union speeches."
Trump was not invited to Sen. John McCain's funeral in 2018, and months later said that as president, he "gave [McCain] the kind of funeral that he wanted ... but I didn't get a thank-you."
In the days after Ginsburg's death, Republicans indicated that they would move quickly to confirm a new justice before the election, in opposition to their stance in 2016 that a new justice should not be confirmed during an election year.
Trump will announce his pick for her replacement on Saturday evening. CNN reported that he wanted to wait until after Ginsburg's memorial services to announce his nomination in a show of respect.
It is unusual for members of the judiciary to weigh in on their replacement, as Ginsburg reportedly did. But her statement underscored the stakes of the ideological balance on the nine-person court.