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Ginsburg: US ‘not experiencing the best of times’

by Rebecca Savransky - 02/23/17 1:52 PM ET

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says the U.S. is “not experiencing the best of times” but she has hope moving forward.

“I am optimistic in the long run,” Ginsburg said during an interview with BBC Newsnight.

“A great man once said that the true symbol of the United States is not the bald eagle. It is the pendulum. And when the pendulum swings too far in one direction it will go back,” she added.

“I would say that we are not experiencing the best of times. But there’s hope in seeing how the public is reacting to it.”

{mosads}Ginsburg pointed to the Women’s March held the day after President Trump’s inauguration.

“I’ve never seen such a demonstration — both the numbers and the rapport of the people in that crowd. There was no violence, it was orderly,” she said.

“So yes, we are not experiencing the best times, but there is there is reason to hope that that we will see a better day.”

Ginsburg also talked about the importance of a free press, noting she reads The Washington Post and The New York Times every day.

“Think of what the press has done in the United States,” she said, referencing Watergate. “That story might never have come out if we didn’t have the free press that we do.”

President Trump often rails against the press, referring to some news organizations as “fake news.” In a recent tweet, he said the fake news media was the “enemy of the American people.”

Ginsburg spurred controversy last year when she called Trump a “faker” and said he “really has an ego.”

Ginsburg later apologized for the comments, saying her remarks were “ill-advised” and she regretted making them.

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