United States President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he will nominate a woman next week to succeed Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died after a long battle with cancer on Friday, BBC reported.

Trump added that Ginsburg’s successor will be a “very talented, very brilliant woman”. Ginsburg, a feminist icon, was only the second woman justice of the US Supreme Court.

“I will be putting forth a nominee next week,” Trump said at a rally in North Carolina. “It will be a woman. “I think it should be a woman because I actually like women much more than men.” Trump added that he wanted to make the nomination without any delay.

Trump referred to Ginsburg as a “legal giant” at the rally. “Her landmark rulings, fierce devotion to justice and her courageous battle against cancer inspire all Americans,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

The US president voiced support for two federal court judges – conservatives Amy Coney Barrett and Barbara Lagoa – to take the top post. The Senate requires a simple majority to confirm a nomination. The Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate.

Ginsburg was one of four liberals on the nine-seat Supreme Court bench. If the Republicans get their nomination through, the balance of power would shift in their favour.

The Democrats, on the other hand, have opposed the nomination before the presidential elections in November. They argued that the Republicans had blocked Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to replace conservative judge Antonin Scalia in 2016. Scalia had died 10 months before the election.

Indian-American judge also in race

Indian-American judge Amul Thapar is also being considered by Trump for the top post, Hindustan Times reported. He currently serves on the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals.

Thapar had made it to the list of nominees to succeed Justice Stephen Kennedy in 2018 but he lost the top post to Brett Kavanaugh.

Thapar is the second person of Indian origin to be appointed as a judge to an appeals court.