WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - US President Donald Trump said on Monday (Sept 21) he is considering five women for his nomination for the US Supreme Court seat left open by the recent death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, adding he will announce his pick on Saturday and he prefers the Senate vote to confirm the nominee before the Nov 3 election.

Trump, speaking to reporters before departing the White House for an Ohio campaign event, sought to discredit Ginsburg's family's statement that her last wish was the next president appoint her successor, saying without evidence it could have been from someone else.

NPR reported the liberal feminist Ginsburg dictated a statement to her granddaughter. Trump is in a tight contest with former Vice President Joe Biden, a Democrat, to keep the White House.

Mr Trump pushed ahead with plans for his third US Supreme Court nomination, which would cement a 6-3 conservative majority, as some Republicans wavered on whether to support the move weeks before an election.

The Republican president said in an interview with Fox News that he wanted to wait out of respect for Ms Ginsburg, a liberal justice who died last Friday at age 87.

"We should wait until the services are over for Justice Ginsburg," he said.

The death of liberal icon Ginsburg upended the campaign season, giving Mr Trump and his party an opportunity to strengthen their grip on the court whose decisions influence most spheres of American life, from healthcare to gun rights to voting access.

Mr Trump said a vote on his Supreme Court nominee should come before the Nov 3 election.

"We won the election and we have the right to do so we have plenty of time, a lot of time," Mr Trump told Fox. "The final vote should be taken frankly before the election. We have plenty of time for that."