Trump pays respects to late Justice Stevens at Supreme Court

by Jacqueline Thomsen - 07/22/19 11:33 AM ET

President Trump on Monday paid his respects to the late Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, traveling to the Supreme Court where the justice is lying in repose.

The president and first lady Melania Trump stood in silence in front of Stevens’s casket in the Supreme Court’s Great Hall, before moving over to a portrait of the late justice placed nearby.

Trump left without making any public remarks.

{mosads}On the way to the Supreme Court, Trump lashed out on Twitter at four minority Democratic congresswomen, calling them “a very Racist group of troublemakers who are young, inexperienced, and not very smart.”

He also tweeted that he and the first lady were on their way to pay their respects to Stevens.

Stevens died last week at the age of 99 from complications following a stroke. He spent 35 years on the Supreme Court and led the court’s liberal bloc, retiring in 2010 and opening the door for then-President Obama to nominate Justice Elena Kagan.

Stevens had been critical of Trump at times, including saying earlier this year that he hopes Trump “won’t do too much damage” to the courts and that the president is “exercising powers that do not really belong to him.”

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement last week that Stevens’s “passion for the law and for our country will not soon be forgotten.” Trump also ordered that flags be flown at half-staff in honor of Stevens.

Kagan gave brief remarks at the Supreme Court earlier Monday in remembrance of Stevens, according to reporters present.

Several of the current justices were also present, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Samuel Alito. Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s wife, Ashley Kavanaugh, also attended.

Justice Kagan paid tribute to Justice Stevens in brief remarks at the court, noting that his funeral could be “a celebration of a life well-lived”

— Lawrence Hurley (@lawrencehurley) July 22, 2019

Those attending included Chief Justice Roberts, Justices Ginsburg, Alito, Sotomayor and Kagan, retired Justice Kennedy and Justice Kavanaugh’s wife, Ashley. Court spokeswoman says the other justices had longstanding commitments, including teaching abroad.

— Greg Stohr (@GregStohr) July 22, 2019

Wisdom for all of us from Justice Stevens:

In remarks this morning at the Court, Justice Kagan recalled the key piece of advice Stevens gave her when she replaced him in 1990: “In your first year and your 35th year, you have to keep thinking of the opportunities to learn.” pic.twitter.com/FbRq18NbrF

— Jan Crawford (@JanCBS) July 22, 2019