The Day

Fans of Justice Ginsburg panic on Twitter

But she says she has ‘at least five more years’ on U.S. Supreme Court

- By SAMANTHA SCHMIDT

“Ruth Bader Ginsburg” was trending on Twitter Sunday night, and liberals across the internet panicked.

“My heart stopped for a moment,” tweeted writer Wajahat Ali.

Dedicated RBG fans feared the worst. They refused to look up the news. They prayed. They offered their kidneys.

“I was on my way to the hospital to donate all my organs,” wrote another fan. “Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive. . .,” tweeted another.

Then, came a collective exhale. Her admirers soon realized that Ginsburg is very much alive, and that the news was that she does not plan on stepping down anytime soon. She said so during a speaking appearance Sunday following a performanc­e in New York of “The Originalis­t,” a play about the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

“I’m now 85,” Ginsburg said, according to CNN. “My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, he stepped down when he was 90, so think I have about at least five more years.”

Is predicting one’s life span among the many powers of a Supreme Court justice? Perhaps not. But Ginsburg’s declaratio­n brought relief to liberal fans who have been obsessing over her health since the beginning of the Trump administra­tion.

To her supporters, Ginsburg does in some ways appear to be an invincible superhero. She has survived both colon and pancreatic cancer. Her widely-publicized regular exercise routine, known as the “RBG workout,” includes push-ups, planks and arm curls. Asked about her health in the recent documentar­y “RBG,” the Supreme Court justice says “she’s proud of keeping herself in shape to do this job.”

Asked last year if she was contemplat­ing retirement, she said, “as long as I can do the job full steam, I will do it.” She has also reportedly hired law clerks through 2020, sending the message that she plans on sticking around.

But there are also those video clips of Ginsburg nodding off during the State of the Union address. She is already five years past the average retirement age of the past 11 justices, and is three years older than retiring justice Anthony Kennedy. As a presidenti­al candidate, Trump responded to her public criticism of him by calling on her to resign, tweeting that her “mind is shot.” The president also reportedly predicted he would appoint four Supreme Court justices in his first term.

But her liberal supporters reject that possibilit­y, particular­ly now that Trump has nominated two conservati­ve justices.

After Trump nominated Neil Gorsuch for the highest court last year, legions of fans fretted over the octogenari­an’s fiber intake and exposure to viruses. They suggested she eat more kale. They offered her O-negative blood.

The feminist Jewish blog Lilith in January published “A Prayer for RBG’s Long Life”: “May you go from strength to strength because you have been ours. May you live many more years because you make the world brighter, fairer, kinder . . .. Because we need you.”

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