Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dying wish was that she not be replaced until a new president was in office. But, within an hour after the news of her death broke, Mitch McConnell was on the phone with Donald Trump telling him to nominate Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

McConnell’s former chief of staff Josh Holmes said in a new documentary that McConnell called Trump on the night of Justice Ginsburg’s death with clear steps on how to proceed.

Advertisement

“McConnell told Trump two things,” Holmes said. “McConnell said, ‘First, I’m going to put out a statement that says we’re going to fill the vacancy.’ Second, he said, ‘You’ve gotta nominate Amy Coney Barrett.’”

On the night of September 18, McConnell released a statement saying “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate”.

Trump nominated Judge Amy Coney Barrett, RBG’s ideological opposite to fill her seat on the Supreme Court, eight days after her death.

She was confirmed eight days before the general election on a strict party line vote by a Republican majority who believed that a Supreme Court vacancy should not be filled in an election year.