Justice Ginsburg regrets comments critical of Trump

WASHINGTON, July 14 (UPI) -- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Thursday reversed course, saying she regrets remarks she made in multiple media interviews in which she was harshly critical of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Ginsburg said in an interview with CNN that Trump was a "faker" who she criticized as having no intellectual underpinning for his public statements.

"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."

Trump responded angrily, suggesting Ginsburg had brought shame on the court for wading into a political campaign when she is supposed to be a neutral arbiter of constitutional law.

He and other Republicans called on her to resign.

Ginsburg released a statement Thursday, saying she regrets her comments.

"On reflection, my recent remarks to press inquiries were ill-advised and I regret making them," she said. "Judges should avoid commenting on a candidate for public office. In the future I will be more circumspect."

Trump's criticism of Ginsburg was backed by some unlikely allies in the editorial boards of The New York Times and The Washington Post, two newspapers that have been harshly critical of his campaign, but whose opinion pages agreed with the Republican that Justice Ginsburg had stepped over the line.