Last week, Fox News’ Senior Judicial Analyst, Judge Andrew Napolitano, was suspended from the cable news network after they claimed he made false statements about Barack Obama spying on President Trump during the 2016 campaign.
Appearing on the network, Napolitano said “three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command. He didn’t use the NSA, he didn’t use the CIA, he didn’t use the FBI, and he didn’t use the Department of Justice… He used GCHQ” to monitor Donald Trump during the 2016 election.
Fox News suspended Napolitano, and while the judge has been on the sidelines he has been making headlines in a different way. According to Politico, Judge Napolitano has been telling friends that after meeting with President Trump twice after the election, he was informed that he was on the shortlist for the Supreme Court.
From Politico:
“He said, ‘Trump said I’m on the list,’” said a source who spoke with Napolitano shortly after one of his meetings with the then president-elect. “He’s been saying that since the transition.”
Friends warned Napolitano not to take the president too literally – or seriously. “He’ll take your call and invite you to the Oval Office, but he just wants you to say nice things about him on TV,” the source says he told Napolitano at the time. But that didn’t sink the ambitious judge’s hopes.
Trump released a list of potential replacements for the late Justice Antonin Scalia before the election, vowing to select Scalia’s replacement from that list — and followed through, tapping Tenth Circuit judge Neil Gorsuch for the nomination in January. Napolitano’s name did not appear on any public list.
But the salt-and-pepper-haired Napolitano, 66, who served as a New Jersey Superior Court judge until 1995 and joined Fox News in 1998, was a sleeper candidate, he told his skeptical friends. He claims he’s submitted both academic and personal resumes to Trump aides, and that they’ve pored over the judge’s writings, including several popular non-fiction books.
People familiar with the president’s thinking dismissed the idea that Napolitano is being considered for a Supreme Court nomination. “The president already has a list of highly qualified contenders for future SCOTUS openings, and Judge Napolitano is not on it,” said a person close to the White House.
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The Supreme Court would certainly be a major promotion from cable news, but the judge’s supporters have taken to Twitter, demanding that he return to the airwaves.
Judge Napolitano for Supreme Court! Yes Yes.
— Nonni (@Camtemp) March 27, 2017
@realdonaldtrump @FOXNEWS: Bring back Judge Napolitano. We want the Judge. We want the Judge. We want the Judge. We want the Judge.
— Justin L. Petaccio (@justinpetac) March 27, 2017
@foxandfriends when is Judge Napolitano coming back?
— Hockeygirl (@hockeygirl1959) March 27, 2017
@foxandfriends bring back Judge Napolitano!!!
— James karnes (@Jameskarnes4) March 27, 2017
Even though President Trump selected Neil Gorsuch to replace the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, do you think Judge Napolitano would make a could judge?
Should he be considered in the future if another seat on the court opens up or should he return to Fox News? Share your thoughts below!