Unquestionably, the rules of etiquette dictate that when one gets a Supreme Court nomination, one engages in some platinum-level ass-kissing. Brett Kavanaugh, just 53 years old, and now set for life, had to start out his acceptance speech with graciousness toward his champion. What he did not have to do, though, was to choose words so diametrically opposed to reality. The net effect was that some of Kavanaugh’s words were just kind of gross to hear.
Right out of the gate, Kavanaugh described President Trump as someone who has “great appreciation” for judges. Look, there are positive things Kavanaugh could have said about Trump that might be have been mildly believable, but this sure as hell wasn’t one of them.
Remember 2017? Trump had been in office just a few weeks when Seattle Federal District Judge James Robart issued a temporary restraining order halting halted enforcement of President Trump’s executive order on immigration. Trump’s immediate (and predictable) response was to take to Twitter, abuse the judge, and call his authority into question:
The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2017
And let’s keep in mind. There was nothing remotely unusual about the fact that Trump’s executive order was the subject of litigation. That happens all the time, and in normal times, presidents just deal with it. When all this was going down, Neil Gorsuch even piped up and condemned Trump’s attack on Judge Robart, telling the New York Times:
“To this day, one of the surest proofs any nation enjoys an independent judiciary must be that the government can and does lose in litigation before its ‘own’ courts like anyone else.”
In the days to follow, Trump continued to hint that he might not follow the Court’s order — which caused some to speculate that his attitude toward judges might just be planting the seeds of impeachment.
Trump has also wasted no opportunity to badmouth the Ninth Circuit:
…the Ninth Circuit, which has a terrible record of being overturned (close to 80%). They used to call this “judge shopping!” Messy system.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 26, 2017
First the Ninth Circuit rules against the ban & now it hits again on sanctuary cities-both ridiculous rulings. See you in the Supreme Court!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 26, 2017
Right. Because it definitely shows “great appreciation” for judges when a sitting president calls a federal circuit court “ridiculous.”
Speaking of judges, there was also that time when Trump called Judge Gonzalo Curiel, “Mexican” and insisted that Judge Curiel recuse himself from presiding over the Trump University lawsuit.
I have a judge in the Trump University civil case, Gonzalo Curiel (San Diego), who is very unfair. An Obama pick. Totally biased-hates Trump
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 30, 2016
Perhaps Judge Kavanaugh should have clarified that Trump has “great appreciation” for only those judges who rule in his favor, as Trump clearly hopes Kavanaugh will do in the inevitable question of presidential immunity.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
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