President Donald Trump on Wednesday singled out two Supreme Court judges he nominated, saying they made him ill in remarks at a Republican fundraising dinner.
Trump was worked up over the court striking down most “emergency” tariffs he had assessed. He claimed the decision in February cost the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars.
Then he zeroed in on Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, two of the conservative justices in the 6-3 decision who voted to restrict his tariff-levying powers.
“Two of the people that voted for that, I appointed, and they sicken me,” he said. “They sicken me cause they’re bad for our country.”
Trump did not mention their names in the moment.
In the aftermath of the ruling last month, Trump said he was “ashamed of certain members of the court” and called those who ruled against the tariffs “fools and lapdogs.”
Earlier this month he also attacked the Republican-appointed judges in general terms during a rant about the tariff ruling. (He also praised the conservative judges ― Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, another of his appointees ― who were on his side in the matter.)
“The Democrats on the Court always ‘stick together,’ no matter how strong a case is put before them — There is rarely even a minor ‘waver.’” he wrote. “But Republicans do not do this. They openly disrespect the Presidents who nominate them to the highest position in the Land, a Justice of the United States Supreme Court, and go out of their way, with bad and wrongful rulings and intentions, to prove how ‘honest,’ ‘independent,’ and ‘legitimate’ they are.”
Wednesday’s remarks at a D.C. fundraiser again appeared to illuminate Trump’s worldview that any of his appointees in government or the judiciary are there to do his bidding ― and nothing more.
“Judges around the country work very hard to get it right, and if they don’t, their opinions are subject to criticism,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in general remarks about attacks on the judiciary last week. “But, personally directed hostility is dangerous, and it’s got to stop.”
