Donald Trump slammed Chief Justice John Roberts on Wednesday after the top justice on the Supreme Court rebuked the president over his criticism of “Obama judges” on the 9th Circuit Court.
The court, located in California, is known for frequently blocking policy initiatives on immigration and national security from the Trump administration, and most recently issued a temporary stay on a joint rule from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security prohibiting asylum claims from some migrants who cross the border illegally.
Trump said, “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 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!”
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 [1]
…..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 [2]
Earlier on Wednesday, Justice Roberts went after Trump.
In a statement put out as a response to a query from the Associated Press [3], Roberts condemned the comments of Trump — who, yesterday, blasted a Ninth Circuit judge who ruled against his administration’s asylum policy.
“This was an Obama judge,” Trump said of Judge Jon Tigar — who ruled that a ban on asylum for those who cross the border illegally would be unlawful.
Today, Roberts said there is no such thing.
In his statement to the AP, Roberts said that the United States does not have “Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.”
The Chief Justice added, an “independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
Supreme Court Justices have become more visible and vocal in recent years — bucking tradition slightly. But the Roberts statement is still an exceedingly rare public criticism of the president.