Harris: Ginsburg ‘absolutely’ cleared the path for me

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) told reporters Friday that the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “absolutely” cleared the path for her legal career. 

Ginsburg died last week due to complications with pancreatic cancer at the age of 87. She was the second woman to serve on the high court and held her seat for 27 years. 

“Because she first of all made America see what leadership looks like and in the law in terms of public service and she broke so many barriers and she did it intentionally knowing that people like me could follow,” Harris said.

The late associate justice was seen as a moderate when she was appointed to the high court by former President Clinton in 1993. She was known for her strongly worded and cogent dissents on the bench. 

But before she became a member of the Supreme Court, Ginsburg fought for gender equality working as a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union in the 1970s. She was also one of the only female law students at both Harvard Law School and Columbia Law School. Eventually, she graduated at the top of her class. 

Ginsburg’s death has sparked a partisan battle in Washington as President Trump and Senate GOP leaders work to fill the vacancy she left during an election year. 

Democrats, however, have argued that whoever wins the November election should choose a justice to replace Ginsburg.

Her death has made the fate of the Supreme Court one of the top issues in the November election. 

Harris said that she met with the liberal justice’s family on Friday. 

“Today I’m just really thinking about RBG. I really am,” Harris, a former prosecutor, said.

“I think it’s actually really it’s very important. I think that in the midst of being 39 days away from the election that we honor one of the greatest Americans, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in terms of all that she inspired, all that she empowered both legally and just in terms of the way she lived her life.”