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Donald Trump says Ruth Bader Ginsburg's 'mind is shot' and she should resign

Stung by Ginsberg's recent criticisms, the presidential candidate chastised the liberal justice on Twitter.
Photo by Cliff Owen/AP

Donald Trump and 83-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are duking it out in public.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee took to Twitter on Wednesday to chastise the liberal justice and called on her to resign, in response to comments Ginsburg made about the business mogul earlier this week.

"Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me," Trump posted on Twitter post. "Her mind is shot — resign!"

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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

Speaking to CNN this week, Ginsburg was unusually candid for a supreme court justice — some would say ethically out of line — when she criticized Trump. She referred to Trump as a "faker" and even floated the idea of packing her bags and heading to New Zealand if the billionaire is elected.

"He has no consistency about him," she said. "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."

She said she could not imagine "what the country would be" under a Trump presidency.

Trump's tweets on Wednesday added to comments he made on Tuesday to the New York Times, saying that Ginsburg owed an apology to the other seven justices she sits with on the court.

Related: Here are four strongmen — including Saddam Hussein — that Trump says he admires

On Wednesday, the New York Times ran an editorial that was critical of Ginsburg's decision to speak out against Trump. The newspaper called on the justice to follow previous Supreme Court precedents of not weighing in on elections and campaigns.

"Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to drop the political punditry and the name-calling," the Times wrote in the editorial, saying her partisan neutrality would otherwise be demeaned.

Other critics pointed out that if any cases involving Trump come before the court — whether he is elected or not — judicial ethics would prescribe that she recuse herself from the case.

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