US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the Supreme Court needs to be filled with nine justices ahead of the November 3 election in light of the possibility of unsolicited mail-in ballots.
Trump plans on unveiling his pick to replace deceased Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at around 5 pm (EST) on September 26.
“We need nine justices. You need that with the unsolicited millions of ballots that they are sending. It is a scam. It is a hoax. Everybody knows that. The Democrats know it better than anybody else. So you are going to need nine justices out there,” Trump told reporters.
Last Friday, Ginsburg died of complications from metastatic pancreatic cancer at her home in Washington. Before the liberal-leaning judge’s death, the High Court already was stacked with a 5-4 conservative majority.
Trump has repeatedly warned that mail-in ballots will lead to mass election fraud. Many believe the Democrats will benefit more from mail-in ballots because their constituents are more concerned about the pandemic.
The presidential election is scheduled to be held on November 3 but some states will allow ballots to come in up to six days late.