THE drumpf/trump-pence administration's disdain for the US justice system may be because drumpf/trump has lost so many lawsuits he has brought to the courts. He doesn't like being told he is wrong and that he can not do some things. His latest twitter attacks on the judges ruling on the trump university case and the immigration ban and then his twitter attacks against the circuit court upholding the injunction against the immigration ban are those of a spoiled child and do not reflect demeanor expected of the president of the U.S. Screaming and stomping his feet are not going to result in him getting his way, we are still a nation of laws, not the dictatorial theocratic plutocracy this administration wishes we were. This from +NPR and +PolitiFact .....
Trump Slams Senator Who Revealed Gorsuch's Criticism Of Remarks On Judges
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Updated at 3:20 p.m. ET
President Trump started the day by blasting a Democratic senator who revealed criticism of Trump from his nominee to the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Judge Neil Gorsuch told Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal that he found President Trump's recent attacks on judges to be "demoralizing" and "disheartening." Gorsuch made the comments during a private meeting, and a member of the Supreme Court nomination team escorting Gorsuch through the get-acquainted meetings also confirmed the remarks to NPR's Tamara Keith.
Even though Gorsuch's team confirmed the comments, Trump says they were "mischaracterized." He also attacked Blumenthal for exaggerating his military service. While running for Senate in 2010, he was discovered to have falsely said that he had served in Vietnam.
Gorsuch Distances Himself From Trump's Attacks On Judges, Senator Says
Blumenthal described his meeting with Gorsuch on Wednesday by telling reporters, "He certainly expressed to me that he is disheartened by the demoralizing and abhorrent comments made by President Trump about the judiciary."
Gorsuch has been meeting with senators in preparation for confirmation hearings.
Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska revealed even stronger comments by Gorsuch when they met. "He got pretty passionate," Sasse told MSNBC on Thursday. "He said, 'Any attack on any of' — I think his word to me was — 'brothers or sisters of the robe is an attack on all judges.'"
Trump's attacks on the judiciary are highly unusual for a sitting president. Gorsuch has been a member of that branch of government as a federal judge since 2006. Senators will be considering whether he will remain independent should he be on the Supreme Court.
Trump began his latest attack last Friday with tweets disparaging federal Judge James L. Robart, who temporarily blocked the president's ban on immigrants from seven majority-Muslim countries. Trump first called Robart a "so-called judge," called his ruling "a terrible decision," and then suggested Robart would be responsible if a terrorist attack should occur.
At the Thursday afternoon press briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer doubled down on the assertion that Gorsuch wasn't specifically talking about Trump's tweet about the "so-called" Judge Robart, pointing to a statement from former Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., who is helping Gorsuch.
"The judge was very clear that he was not commenting on a specific matter," Spicer asserted, though it's unclear why the Supreme Court nominee would bring up criticism of judges unless to talk about the president's recent statements that did just that. And the statements also contradict Sasse's account of their talk.
On Tuesday, three judges on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments about whether to lift Robart's temporary block on the president's executive order.
Wednesday morning, Trump switched his attack to them, or at least one of them whom he did not name. The president told a gathering of chiefs of police and sheriffs that he doesn't understand how any judge could rule against him.
"And I don't ever want to call a court biased, so I won't call it biased. And we haven't had a decision yet. But courts seem to be so political and it would be great for our justice system if they would be able to read a statement and do what's right," Trump said.
The statement Trump referred to is the federal law granting a president authority to restrict who enters the United States.
Trump's attack on Blumenthal refers back to a controversy during the senator's 2010 campaign.
The New York Times uncovered at the time that Blumenthal said at a 2008 event honoring veterans and service members, "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam." Except Blumenthal had received several deferments from going to Vietnam, and served in the Marine reserves, though not overseas. Blumenthal later apologized and said he meant to say, "I served during Vietnam."
Blumenthal responded to Trump's tweet in an interview on CNN, and Trump was apparently watching. The president sent out another tweet falsely claiming CNN didn't ask Blumenthal about the controversy over his military record.
Jessica Taylor contributed.
Trump wrong on Sen. Blumenthal's CNN interview and Vietnam
President Donald Trump lashed out at CNN New Day anchor Chris Cuomo for failing to get tough with Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D- Conn. Cuomo had interviewed Blumenthal after the senator made headlines by saying that Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch had told him he was "disheartened" by the president’s dismissive comments about federal judges.
Blumenthal drew Trump’s wrath first. The president tweeted, "Sen.Richard Blumenthal, who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had (major lie),now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?"
Cuomo’s turn came next. After he spoke with Blumenthal, Trump tweeted on Feb. 9, 2017, "Chris Cuomo, in his interview with Sen. Blumenthal, never asked him about his long-term lie about his brave "service" in Vietnam. FAKE NEWS!"
Actually, Cuomo did ask about that.
CNN posted Cuomo’s interview with Blumenthal. Cuomo’s first question was: "What is your response to the president of the United States saying you should not be believed because you misrepresented your military record in the past?"
Blumenthal didn’t answer the question. Instead, he repeated his account of what Gorsuch said to him. The interview moved on to details about the Gorsuch nomination.
After Trump took his shot at Cuomo, the CNN anchor defended himself on air.
"The president, with all due respect, is once again off on the facts," Cuomo said. "He just said, ‘You never asked him about it.’ I did. He ducked it, and that’s okay. Politicians duck things all the time."
"The President ... is once again off on the facts": @ChrisCuomo's response to @realDonaldTrump's tweet about him
We reached out to the White House for comment and did not hear back. If they do respond, we will update this fact-check.
Vietnam legacy
Both Blumenthal and Trump avoided serving in Vietnam, but while Trump never claimed to have been there, Blumenthal did.
In 2010, the New York Times reported that at a 2008 ceremony for veterans and senior citizens, Blumenthal said, "We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam." In 2003, Blumenthal spoke at a rally supporting troops overseas. "When we returned, we saw nothing like this," he said, a comparison with soldiers who came back from Vietnam.
Blumenthal told the New York Times he had "misspoken" about his Vietnam record. In reality, between 1965 and 1970, he received at least five deferments for military service. In 1970, he obtained a slot in the Marine Reserves and was stationed in America.
As we’ve reported before, Trump benefited from four student deferments in college and one medical deferment (Trump later said that was for bone spurs in his heels), before being classified 4-F, unfit to serve. Trump played baseball, tennis and squash during his college years. He once said attending a private military-style boarding school gave him "more training militarily than a lot of the guys that go into the military."
Our ruling
Trump said Cuomo failed to ask Blumenthal about his "long-term lie" about his service in Vietnam. The video record shows that Cuomo asked Blumenthal to respond to the charge that he lacked credibility after misrepresenting his military record.
Cuomo might not have mentioned Vietnam, but he certainly brought Blumenthal’s past distortions into the conversation. Cuomo could have pressed Blumenthal with follow-up questions, which he failed to do. But he did ask.
We rate this claim False.
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