A day after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, chants of "Fill that seat! Fill that seat!" broke out during President Trump's campaign rally in Fayetteville, N.C., on Saturday.
"That's what we're going to do. We're going to fill that seat!" Trump said, saying his supporters should print "Fill that seat!" on T-shirts.
The president also pledged to nominate a woman for the seat, saying "I actually like women much more than I like men." He went on to "poll" the crowd about whether they'd prefer a man or a woman for the seat. The cheers were much louder for a woman nominee.
"It will be a woman, a very talented, very brilliant woman," Trump then announced.
Earlier Saturday, Trump had said he expects to announce the nominee next week.
Trump said previous presidents have filled vacancies on the court "every single time," ignoring the Republican-controlled Senate's refusal to consider former President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland ahead of the 2016 election.
"Nobody said, 'Let's not fill that seat," Trump said. "We win an election, and those are the consequences."
Trump also nodded to Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who is up for reelection in a tough race and earlier Saturday said he would approve Trump's nominee if a vote was held before Election Day.
The Democrats would need four Republicans to join them to stop Trump's nominee.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
