By Michael A. Memoli
Tribune Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court told a U.S. senator that he was “disheartened” by the president’s comments about the judiciary, the lawmaker said Tuesday.
“He certainly expressed to me that he is disheartened by the demoralizing and abhorrent comments made by President Trump about the judiciary,” Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters after meeting Trump’s nominee, appeals Judge Neil M. Gorsuch.
As the president’s executive order temporarily suspending travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations has run into legal roadblocks, Trump has lashed out at members of the independent judiciary.
Over the weekend, he referred to the Seattle judge who suspended the order as a “so-called judge” and suggested that Americans should blame him if a major terrorist attack were to occur.
At a conference of police chiefs in Washington on Wednesday, Trump asked how any judge could question the legal basis of his order.
“A bad high school student would understand this,” Trump said. “I think our security is at risk today, and it will be at risk until we get what we are entitled to.”
Gorsuch has been meeting with senators from both parties at the Capitol this week as he prepares to face questions in a public hearing. Barring a change in Senate rules, Gorsuch will need at least eight Democratic votes to be confirmed to the high court.
Blumenthal, a former state attorney general, described Gorsuch as “unspecific and unforthcoming” on a number of key issues they discussed in their private meeting, including privacy rights and women’s health care. But he said his vote on whether to confirm Gorsuch may not be based on his qualifications and views alone.
“There is an elephant in the room with us today. The elephant is Donald Trump, who has issued a series of blistering and bullying attacks on judges around the country,” Blumenthal said.
“I will be asking for more specific and forthcoming responses to those kinds of questions before I determine how I will vote.”
