Sotomayor on Trump's election: 'We can't afford to despair'
Justice Sonia Sotomayor said at a community forum on Tuesday that the nation can’t afford for a president to fail and those who opposed Donald Trump’s election can’t afford to despair.
Sotomayor commented in response to a question about whether she felt apprehensive about Donald Trump’s presidential victory, report the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal Law Blog. Both stories note her reply during the forum in Washington, D.C.
“I’m going to demur from answering that question that way,” Sotomayor said. “I will answer it in a different way, which is I think that this is the time where every good person has an obligation both to continue being heard and to continue doing the right thing.”
“We can’t afford for a president to fail,” Sotomayor continued. “We have to support that which he does which is right and help guide him to those right decisions.
“But we can’t afford to despair, and we can’t afford to give up our pursuing of values that we and others have fought so hard to achieve. And so for me, this is a challenge. So I’m going to continue doing what I think is the right thing. That’s the challenge we all have to face.”
Sotomayor also said she looks forward to the nomination and confirmation of a new justice. “It’s not an ideal situation. We function better as nine,” she said.
