WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary rebuke of a president, Chief Justice John Roberts chastised Donald Trump Wednesday for going after a judge who ruled against his migrant asylum order as an “Obama judge.” Trump quickly lashed back defending his own criticism.
It’s the first time the Republican-appointed leader of the federal judiciary has offered even a hint of criticism of Trump, who had previously blasted other federal judges who ruled against him. In a brief but pointed statement, Roberts strongly defended the independence of the federal judiciary and rejected the notion that judges are loyal to the presidents who appointed them.
“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,” Roberts said in a statement that was released by the Supreme Court after a query by The Associated Press.
On the day before Thanksgiving, he concluded, “The independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
Never silent for long, Trump hit back from his resort home in Florida, bluntly questioning the independence of federal judges appointed by his predecessor and others and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. He especially criticized those on California’s 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“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,” the president tweeted.
If the 9th Circuit judges are independent, he said, “why are so many opposing view (on Border and Safety) cases filed there, and why are a vast number of those cases overturned. ... these rulings are making our country unsafe! Very dangerous and unwise!”
Before Trump, it had been highly unusual for presidents to single out judges for personal criticism. And a chief justice’s challenge to a president’s comments is unprecedented in modern times.
- Mark Sherman, AP
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