--- title: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Regrets Criticizing Donald Trump description: Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she regrets criticizing Donald Trump after she was the subject of an intense backlash for her comments canonical: https://time.com/4406160/ruth-bader-ginsburg-donald-trump-regret-comments/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-14T14:34:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:15:30.575Z article:section: Politics og:title: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Regrets Criticizing Donald Trump og:description: Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she regrets criticizing Donald Trump after she was the subject of an intense backlash for her comments og:url: https://time.com/4406160/ruth-bader-ginsburg-donald-trump-regret-comments/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt120210bcd1bda502/69889b3d8e06017758466a10/ruth-bader-ginsburg-next-president.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Regrets Criticizing Donald Trump twitter:description: Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she regrets criticizing Donald Trump after she was the subject of an intense backlash for her comments twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt120210bcd1bda502/69889b3d8e06017758466a10/ruth-bader-ginsburg-next-president.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Ruth Bader Ginsburg Regrets Criticizing Donald Trump  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jul 14, 2016 2:34 PM UTC  WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 30: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, celebrating her 20th anniversary on the bench, is photographed in the West conference room at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday, August 30, 2013\. (Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 30: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, celebrating her 20th anniversary on the bench, is photographed in the West conference room at the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., on Friday, August 30, 2013\. (Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images)Nikki Kahn—The Washington Post/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jul 14, 2016 2:34 PM UTC Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she regrets [criticizing Donald Trump](http://time.com/4402787/ruth-bader-ginsburg-doubles-down-on-donald-trump-criticism-he-is-a-faker/?iid=sr-link2) after she was the subject of an intense backlash for her comments. “On reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them,” the Supreme Court justice said in a statement Thursday. “Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future I will be more circumspect.” On Sunday, [Ginsburg said](http://time.com/4400491/ruth-bader-ginsburg-interview-donald-trump-merrick-garland-abortion/) she “can’t imagine what the country would be — with Donald Trump as our President.” She doubled down on her remark on Tuesday, [calling Trump a “faker”](http://time.com/4402787/ruth-bader-ginsburg-doubles-down-on-donald-trump-criticism-he-is-a-faker/?iid=sr-link2) and saying, “He has no consistency about him. He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego. … How has he gotten away with not turning over his tax returns? The press seems to be very gentle with him on that.” Ginsburg’s comments irked Trump, [who said Tuesday](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/us/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-donald-trump-criticism.html), “I think it’s highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly,” Mr. Trump said in a telephone interview. “I think it’s a disgrace to the court, and I think she should apologize to the court. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.” Trump also tweeted: > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/753354905897668608) Both the Washington _Post_ and the New York _Times_ editorial boards also denounced Ginsburg’s comments. The _Post_, whose editorial board has been openly critical of Trump, [wrote](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/justice-ginsburgs-inappropriate-comments-on-donald-trump/2016/07/12/981df404-4862-11e6-bdb9-701687974517%5Fstory.html), “However valid her comments may have been, though, and however in keeping with her known political bent, they were still much, much better left unsaid by a member of the Supreme Court.” [The _Times_ said](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/13/opinion/donald-trump-is-right-about-justice-ruth-bader-ginsburg.html?%5Fr=0): “Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to drop the political punditry and the name-calling.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4406160/ruth-bader-ginsburg-donald-trump-regret-comments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4406160/ruth-bader-ginsburg-donald-trump-regret-comments/"},"headline":"Ruth Bader Ginsburg Regrets Criticizing Donald Trump","datePublished":"2016-07-14T14:34:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:15:30.575Z","description":"\"In the future I will be more circumspect”","url":"https://time.com/4406160/ruth-bader-ginsburg-donald-trump-regret-comments/","keywords":["Supreme Court","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt120210bcd1bda502/69889b3d8e06017758466a10/ruth-bader-ginsburg-next-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt120210bcd1bda502/69889b3d8e06017758466a10/ruth-bader-ginsburg-next-president.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg","caption":"Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg","creditText":"Nikki Kahn—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/supreme-court/","name":"Supreme Court"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4406160/ruth-bader-ginsburg-donald-trump-regret-comments/","name":"Ruth Bader Ginsburg Regrets Criticizing Donald Trump"}}]}] ```