David Axelrod after cancer treatment in Ginsburg: a vacancy on the Supreme Court could "tear this country apart"

CNN Political Commentator and Democratic Strategist David AxelrodDavid AxelrodMark Halperin signs a book deal with the 2020 Democrats Democrats are fighting to vindicate Obama's control over health care a lot of questions about Epstein's death MORE on Friday answered the news that the Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader GinsburgRuth Bader GinsburgRuth Bader Ginsburg defends conservative judges Kavanaugh and Gorsuch Ginsburg excludes court work and term of office of Supreme Court justices Ginsburg says he hopes to sit on the bench as long as Stevens has FOLLOWED had recently completed a radiotherapy treatment for a malignant tumor, writing that a vacant post at the Supreme Court could "tear this country apart".

"If there is a [Supreme Court] The vacant post next year and @senatemajldr are holding their extraordinary promise to fill it – despite Garland's previous precedent of blocking it – it will tear this country apart, "wrote Axelrod, referring to the Senate majority leader . Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnell Democrats urge the FBI and DHS to respond to white supremacist violence. (R-Ky.) Blocking the last Supreme Court nominee of former President Obama, Merrick GarlandMerrick Brian GarlandLaw, professor: Judicial trials should be a "last resort" solution Here's how senators can overcome their hyperpartisanship with judicial candidates. The McConnell campaign criticized for his tombstone on behalf of his challenger. in 2016.

If there is a vacancy at SCOTUS next year and @senatemajldr continues its extraordinary promise to fulfill it – despite its previous precedent of Garland blocking – he tore up this country.

– David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 23, 2019

The Hill sought advice from McConnell's office.

Ginsburg, 86, is the oldest member of the High Court and has been sitting on his nine-member seat for 26 years. During her tenure, she had several episodes of cancer. She underwent surgery in 1999 for colorectal cancer, an intervention for pancreatic cancer in 2009, and another operation to remove two malignant nodules from her lungs in December.

His most recent treatment, announced by the Supreme Court on Friday, had been conducted out of court at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. It was aimed at fighting a tumor detected early July during a routine blood test. A stent was also inserted into its common bile duct as part of the treatment.

The Supreme Court said Friday in a statement that Ginsburg "tolerated the treatment well" and that "the tumor has been treated definitively and that there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body" .

Concerns about Ginsburg 's health and his ability to bring justice prompted some people to donate their organs, while others recommended hiding it in a bubble wrap.

Nicknamed affectionately "RBG" by his followers, Ginsburg has become a cultural icon for liberals who see it as a bulwark against President TrumpEfforts to install more conservative judges.