Courting Disaster: Trump Attempts to Erode the Separation of Powers
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What unprecedented actions is Donald Trump taking against the judiciary?
Okay, Donald Trump spent the week attacking judges and continuing to ignore court orders. And unfortunately, history doesn't really offer us a guide here. Lucky for us, Congressman Jamie Raskin is probably the best guide you could hope for, and he's coming up first. Plus, Bernie Sanders and AOC turn out more than 80,000 people during a string of rallies out West. Congressman Greg Cazar joined them on stage yesterday in Arizona, and he's going to join me in just a few minutes. And later, the phrase conflict of interest doesn't even begin to describe what Elon Musk is up to. We'll talk about why Tesla is struggling big time right now and how Musk is trying to use his co-presidency to help it.
OK, so right now, just to sum it up, I know you all have been paying very close attention, but Donald Trump is ignoring court orders. He's attacking every aspect of the legal system, including law firms. And he's standing by as threats against judges continue to arise. And I just want to start by stating perhaps what sounds extremely obvious here. This is not normal. And I mean by historical standards, too. I mean, ignoring a judge's order is not at all normal. Insulting and attacking a judge on social media or whatever form of communications there may have been at many points in history is not normal. And calling for a judge's impeachment simply because you didn't like their ruling is definitely not normal.
I mean, look, lots of presidents have been mad at lots of judges in the past throughout history. I mean, throughout history, both presidents of both parties have had courts rule against them. But none of them acted like Donald Trump. Let's go back to 1952. President Truman seized control of steel mills to make sure there was continued production during the Korean War. The Supreme Court said he acted unconstitutionally, which would make any president mad, right? Even irate. But did Truman ignore them? Did he call for the justices to be impeached? Of course not. He immediately ordered the return of the steel mills to their owners, even though their workers immediately went on strike. That takes us to 1974.
The Supreme Court dealt a huge blow, of course, to President Nixon, ordering him to hand over the Watergate tapes. And Nixon complied, even though it was the nail in the coffin for his entire presidency. And I'm not excusing anything he did here, obviously. I'm making a different point. But he didn't call for the justices to step down. He actually stepped down himself. He didn't really have a choice, resigning from office only two weeks later. Then there was the time in 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that President George W. Bush overstepped his authority in ordering war crime trials for detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Yes, true. But listen to how Bush responded to that ruling at a press conference that very same day.
I haven't had a chance to fully review the findings of the Supreme Court. I want to assure you that we take them very seriously. I will protect the people and at the same time conform with the findings of the Supreme Court.
Look, I'm not excusing anything that led to that ruling, but the point here is he said, I will conform with the findings of the court. Haven't heard a whole lot of that lately, have we? In 2016, the Supreme Court blocked President Obama's immigration plan that would have shielded as many as 5 million parents from being deported. And it would have also helped them find legal work in the United States. He was frustrated and he was upset, believe me. But he abided by the ruling. Then there was a time in 2022 when the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its vaccine or testing requirements for large private companies. This was part of the height of COVID. Of course, Biden didn't agree with it.
Believe me, he didn't agree with it. But here's what he said in response. The court has ruled that my administration cannot use the authority granted to it by Congress to require this measure. But that does not stop me from using my voice as president. Look, the point here is this.
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