In a remarkable exchange, Chief Justice John Roberts rebuked the President over his assessment that some judges appointed by Barack Obama exhibit a clear bias, while Trump fired back, citing the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as an example.
The clash between Roberts and Trump began when the latter blasted U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar, an Obama appointee, for issuing a temporary restraining order against the Administration’s new asylum rules. The President sought to prohibit immigrants who enter the country illegally from applying for asylum, a move designed to stem the tide of mass caravans of illegals trying to overrun the southern border.
“This was an Obama judge,” Trump complained. “And I’ll tell you what, it’s not going to happen like this anymore.”
Roberts was inspired to respond in a statement:
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”
It was a rare public admonishment by the Chief Justice.
Trump Fires Back
The President quickly responded, saying, “Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges.”
Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have “Obama judges,” and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country. It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an “independent judiciary,” but if it is why……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2018
…..are so many opposing view (on Border and Safety) cases filed there, and why are a vast number of those cases overturned. Please study the numbers, they are shocking. We need protection and security – these rulings are making our country unsafe! Very dangerous and unwise!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2018
President Trump went on to slam the Ninth Circuit, at times referred to as the ‘Ninth Circus‘ for its readily apparent left-leaning bias, that he believes liberals use as a means to “get an almost guaranteed result” against him and his administration.
Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster. It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, & is used to get an almost guaranteed result. Judges must not Legislate Security…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2018
….and Safety at the Border, or anywhere else. They know nothing about it and are making our Country unsafe. Our great Law Enforcement professionals MUST BE ALLOWED TO DO THEIR JOB! If not there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death. We want the Constitution as written!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2018
Critics were quick to seize on the fact that it is the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that is, on average, the most overturned in the country. But the reversal rate regardless isn’t exactly a shining beacon of non-partisanship, and the Ninth Circuit is the one deliberately being accessed in attempts to overturn Trump’s policies to protect America.
Why is Roberts Chiming In Anyway?
How often have we heard the left complain about Bush-appointed judges over the years? Roberts, prior to this, wasn’t prompted at any point to rebuke the left for claiming the judiciary is not as impartial as one would like to think?
When people are freaking out about Trump, the question always is is this a new awful thing he’s doing, or is this an old awful thing that people used to ignore but are now making a fuss because it’s Trump who is doing it?
— Frank J. Fleming (@IMAO_) November 21, 2018
Where were Roberts and the media when the late Senator John McCain and Senator Jeff Flake actually proposed legislation to break up the Ninth Circuit because they viewed it as overly liberal?
I don’t recall him stepping up and defending the integrity of the judicial system back then.
Where was Roberts when former President Barack Obama actually threatened the Supreme Court prior to their ruling on Obamacare? Obama, you may recall, complained that should the Court rule against the individual mandate, it would be an unprecedented display of judicial activism.
From The Hill (April, 2012):
Obama warned the high court against “a lack of judicial restraint,” in which “an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law.”
Roberts, of course, cowered to Obama and would prove integral in upholding Obamacare as the law of the land by personally rewriting the individual mandate as a tax.
Then there was the 2010 State of the Union address in which Obama hammered the Supreme Court justices to their face regarding the Citizens United ruling, while they sat in front of him. It was a move even the New York Times referred to as a “rare rebuke” and an “attack” on the nation’s highest court.
“With all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections,” Obama said.
Obama criticized the Supreme Court’s campaign finance decision.
Justice Alito mouths ‘not true’ at Obama. Roberts said nothing then. https://t.co/z876GRka57 via @YouTube— Gene Lamkin (@GeneLamkin) November 22, 2018
Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. was seen shaking his head no and mouthing the words “not true.”
Roberts remained silent. He would only muster up the notion that the ‘timing’ of Obama’s criticism was “very troubling.”
In fact, Roberts went so far as to say Obama had the right to criticize the court.
“First of all, anybody can criticize the Supreme Court without any qualm,” he said, adding that “some people, I think, have an obligation to criticize what we do, given their office, if they think we’ve done something wrong.”
Apparently that no longer applies now that President Trump is in the White House.
