the supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg executed a full u-turn on thursday morning, over remarks about the presumptive republican presidential nominee donald trump that ignited controversy on the eve of the gop convention.



















her remarks about trump were <u+201c>ill-advised<u+201d>, she said, adding: <u+201c>i regret making them.<u+201d>









in an interview with the new york times last week, ginsburg said she could not <u+201c>imagine what the country would be with donald trump as our president<u+201d> and suggested her late husband would have taken such a scenario as a reason to emigrate <u+2013> as far away as new zealand.









ginsburg, 83, was the first supreme court justice in decades to comment publicly on a candidate in the middle of the presidential campaign.









her comments sparked indignation, dismay and accusations that she had violated judicial ethics. trump called for her to resign.









despite this, ginsburg doubled down, calling trump a faker and telling cnn in an interview published on tuesday: <u+201c>he really has an ego.<u+201d>









by thursday, she appeared to have considered her words and their implications more deeply. in a statement, she said: <u+201c>on reflection, my recent remarks in response to press inquiries were ill-advised and i regret making them.









<u+201c>judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. in the future i will be more circumspect.<u+201d>









supreme court justices are expected to adhere to a code of conduct issued for us judges, which stipulates that they refrain from publicly endorsing or opposing any candidate for public office. they are not officially bound by the code but generally agree to follow it.









ginsburg<u+2019>s comments were not only rare but also particularly colorful for someone in her position. she has however gained something of a celebrity aura in recent years, with liberal supporters using the affectionate moniker <u+201c>notorious rbg<u+201d>, echoing the nickname <u+201c>notorious big<u+201d>, which was given to the late rapper biggie smalls.









earlier this week, the white house spokesman, josh earnest, commented that ginsburg, who is currently writing a book called my own words, did not become known as the notorious rbg <u+201c>for nothing<u+201d>.









although she has long been known as a member of the liberal wing of the court, ginsburg<u+2019>s frank and blatantly political and personal comments about trump appeared to come out of the blue.



















on monday, she told cnn that she had first thought trump<u+2019>s candidacy was <u+201c>funny<u+201d>. as he was about to become the gop nominee, though, she slammed him in personal terms, saying: <u+201c>he has no consistency about him. he says whatever comes into his head at the moment.<u+201d>









trump told the new york times her comments were <u+201c>highly inappropriate<u+201d> and <u+201c>beneath the bench<u+201d> and that she had let her fellow justices down.









the times and the washington post have both published editorials agreeing with trump.
ruth bader ginsburg regrets 'ill-advised' remarks about donald trump
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