The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg continues to dominate the news cycle and likely will up until a nominee is confirmed right before the election. What that means is that the hot takes are flowing, and none has been hotter than the idea that Ginsburg’s “final wish” that Trump not replace her should be binding.

We’ve seen Democrat leaders (and their real leaders like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) and media figures alike push this narrative. Jake Tapper has asked numerous Republicans about it because he apparently thinks it is some incredible gotcha.

But in the end, it’s not. Tucker Carlson filleted the argument last night on his show for good measure.

TUCKER: "We don't really know actually what Ruth Bader Ginsburg's final words were. Did she really leave this world fretting about a presidential election? We don't believe that for a second. If it were true, it would be pathetic because life is bigger than politics." pic.twitter.com/ylBiuFXkvw

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 22, 2020

Tucker asks his viewers to consider for a moment the nonsensical argument being put forward. That in order to protect and uphold the Constitution, we must substitute the Constitution’s process in order to insert an 87 year old partisan’s dying wish, of which there’s not even any actual record of. Regardless of your personal feelings about Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that is about as silly of an assertion as could possibly be made. That AOC is helping lead the charge on it is proof enough of that and certainly points to its lack of merit.

But it’s the second part of the clip that is vintage Tucker. While almost all Republican commentators have ceded the idea that Ginsburg made such a wish, Tucker questions the very veracity of the original claim. Was the late Justice really giving dying wishes about the temporary politics of Donald Trump on her death bed? Or was she focused on her family as you’d expect? We can’t know for sure, and certainly there’s reason to believe she would indeed throw such a grenade into the process, but there’s always room for suspicion when Democrats so quickly and thoroughly adopt a talking point. I’d guess Tucker’s use of the word “pathetic” there will earn him some scorn today, but that’s why he’s popular. He doesn’t hold back when he feels something needs to be said.

In the end, the fact that the Democrats are even pushing the dying wish angle shows they’ve got nothing. Now, I’m sure they’ll come up with something once a nominee is named, however weak and ineffective it may be. But for now, their arguments against replacing Ginsburg are falling completely flat, and Republicans are moving forward just as they should. Saturday is the big day though. If Amy Coney Barrett is named, and she should be, the response is going to be apoplectic.

(Please follow me on Twitter! @bonchieredstate)