There have been quite a few, er, notable moments from President Donald Trump’s handle to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, however maybe probably the most hanging was when he turned to Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice John Roberts, patted him on the again, and mentioned he “won’t forget it.”
“Thank you again. Thank you again. Won’t forget it,” the president mentioned whereas shaking Roberts’ hand after delivering his speech.
We don’t know precisely what Trump meant by this, contemplating the entire favors Roberts has achieved for him. In any case, Roberts is liable for authoring the choice that grants former presidents immunity from prosecution, primarily giving them energy to commit crimes below the guise of “official acts” in workplace.
There was additionally the Roberts-authored ruling that narrowed obstruction prices for defendants accused of collaborating within the rebel on Jan. 6, 2021, and the time when the Supreme Courtroom’s conservative majority usurped the Fourteenth Modification, ruling that states couldn’t disqualify Trump from the poll regardless of the Structure’s ban on insurrectionists holding workplace.
Briefly, Trump may have been thanking Roberts for numerous issues, however the president insists that his gesture was merely routine.
“Like most people, I don’t watch Fake News CNN or MSDNC, but I understand they are going ‘crazy’ asking what is it that I was thanking Justice Roberts for? They never called my office to ask, of course, but if they had I would have told these sleazebag ‘journalists’ that I thanked him for SWEARING ME IN ON INAUGURATION DAY, AND DOING A REALLY GOOD JOB IN SO DOING!” Trump wrote on Fact Social, with “MSNDC” being a portmanteau of MSNBC and the Democratic Nationwide Conference.
However as judges who bow to the president obtain gratitude, those that don’t are met with demise threats.
In response to Reuters, legislation enforcement has warned federal judges that they’re dealing with unusually excessive ranges of menace as they try and uphold the legislation regardless of Trump and his allies’ efforts to undermine it.
Eleven judges expressed concern to Reuters about their bodily safety, saying that they’ve confronted demise threats in current weeks.
These threats come as Elon Musk, the unelected billionaire who appears to have undue affect over the federal authorities, has made a number of posts on X attacking judges as “corrupt” or “evil.” In a single case, Musk known as for a federal choose’s impeachment after he blocked DOGE entry to delicate Treasury Division information.
And Musk isn’t the one one criticizing the judiciary.
In February, Vice President JD Vance posted on X that “judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power,” suggesting that Trump possesses final authority.
Whereas Roberts hasn’t been as compliant as another members of the Supreme Courtroom—and has even proven a willingness to interrupt along with his conservative colleagues—he’s nonetheless unlikely to function a test on Trump’s lawlessness.
A minimum of two judges, Tanya Chutkan and Juan Merchan, confronted threats for presiding over instances involving Trump the place the verdicts had been rejected by conservatives.
In the meantime, the six Republican Supreme Courtroom appointees, three of whom had been appointed by Trump throughout his first time period, have delivered some gorgeous victories within the president’s favor. And contemplating that conservative judges typically help Trump in his continued assault on democracy, he might need much more to thank them for sooner or later.
Roberts said in December that “violence, intimidation, disinformation, and threats” jeopardize judicial independence, so it could be hypocritical if he’s now serving to Trump dismantle present statutes.
Trump has beforehand inspired his followers to interrupt the legislation on his behalf, and his actions on Tuesday will solely serve to additional politicize the courts.
