The Notorious RBG will be noticeably MIA when President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Instead, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will deliver a “fireside chat” for students and faculty at the Roger Williams University School of Law in Rhode Island.
The liberal member of the Supreme Court has clashed with the president in the past, calling then-candidate Trump a “faker” who “really has an ego,” leading Trump to lash out on Twitter saying “her mind is shot.” Ginsburg later apologized for her comments.
However, her absence is due to a scheduling conflict. House Speaker Paul Ryan announced in late November the date of the State of Union would be January 30. However, Ginsburg’s Rhode Island talk was announced in late August.
Ginsburg will be joined at the event by Judge Bruce Selya, who sits on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
“What Rhode Island can look forward to is a visit from a woman who is both a thought leader in this country — a historic figure in her own right — and someone who every person in this state would be pleased and proud to have for a neighbor,” Selya, who also sits on the law school’s board of directors, said in a statement.
“The objective will be to give her an opportunity to expound on matters that will be of interest to law students and law faculty, to talk about how she goes about her job, and to offer reflections on her life experience.”
Ginsburg attended all of former President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speeches, including when she famously fell asleep at his 2010 address and again at his 2015 address, after which she blamed it on drinking too much wine.
Ginsburg’s colleagues are planning to attend. However, many justices have spoken out against the event in the past. Chief Justice John Roberts once called it “a political pep rally” and late Justice Antonin Scalia described them as “cheerleading sessions” and said it was inappropriate for justices to attend.