All the times Trump personally attacked judges — and why his tirades are ‘worse than wrong’
A White House statement Tuesday about a federal district judge’s ruling on Trump’s executive order on “sanctuary cities” did not mince words. It emphasized — more than once — that the judge who just ruled against the administration is not an elected official.
.. Trump is sending a dangerous message in his latest attack on the judiciary: “As the leader of the free world, I should be able to do what I choose. The court shouldn’t be able to get involved.”
Geyh said that attitude shows a lack of understanding of the equal roles of the three branches of government, specifically of the judiciary’s job to serve as a check on the executive branch.
.. “Presidents have disagreed with court rulings all the time. What’s unusual is he’s essentially challenging the legitimacy of the court’s role. And he’s doing that without any reference to applicable law,” Geyh told The Washington Post. “That they are blocking his order is all the evidence he needs that they are exceeding their authority.”
“That’s worse than wrong,” Geyh added. “On some level, that’s dangerous.”
.. Trumps’s attacks on the federal judiciary began even before he took office.
.. U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel was the target of racially tinged remarks by the Republican presidential nominee last June. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump said that Curiel’s ethnicity should have disqualified him from presiding over fraud lawsuits against the now-defunct Trump University.
He argued that because of his hard-line immigration policies, having a judge of Mexican heritage preside over a lawsuit against him presented an “absolute conflict” of interest.
.. “They ought to look into Judge Curiel because what Judge Curiel is doing is a total disgrace. Okay?”