It's the latest sign that the 2016 presidential election has strayed far beyond the norm. Republican Donald Trump is locked in a heated back-and-forth with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Our Washington bureau reporter Geoff Bennett brings us the story.
You can now add to Donald Trump's long list of sparring partners: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Trump now says Ginsburg should step down, tweeting Wednesday morning:
Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot - resign!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 13, 2016
The spat started after the 83-year-old justice hammered the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in a string of recent interviews.
Calling him a "faker" with an "ego" in an interview with CNN, telling the New York Times she didn’t even want to contemplate four years of a Trump presidency and jokingly suggesting to the Associated Press that Democratic Hillary Clinton would win the November election.
It is unprecedented in modern times for a Supreme Court justice to directly criticize a presidential candidate.
The next president will have a huge influence on the direction of the Court, which is already down a justice.
"I wish she hadn't said them," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during a Tuesday news conference.
McConnell shared the view of many Republicans this week in calling Ginsburg's comments "inappropriate.”
"It raises the level of skepticism that the American people have from time to time about just how objective the Supreme Court is," McConnell said.
Democrats have criticized Ginsburg’s comments, too.
But, Ginsburg is known for her off-bench bluntness. It earned her the nickname The Notorious R.B.G., a play on rapper The Notorious B.I.G.
And despite Trump's tweet, Ginsburg, who’s survived two serious bouts with cancer, hasn’t signaled an interest in retiring anytime soon.