On Friday, journalist Jonathan Lemire of the Associated Press appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and spoke of Donald Trump’s reaction to Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch’s votes against him. As reported by Raw Story , Lemire believes Trump considers their vote in favor of a subpoena of his tax returns is a “betrayal.”
Although Lemire noted that the decision allows Trump to fight the effort in the lower courts, he claims that the president is nevertheless angry at Kavanaugh and Gorsuch’s votes.
“But the anger from the president was that the court itself, in particular according to our reporting, the justices that he appointed, Kavanaugh and [Neil] Gorsuch, who, as you said earlier, he demands loyalty from his appointees, from his staff in his circle even though he doesn’t always exhibit it in return.”
Lemire noted Trump’s difficult position in his reelection campaign as he faces unfavorable polls, as well as the recent setbacks from the Supreme Court. Although Lemire says Trump has focused some of his purported anger at Chief Justice John Roberts, he claims that Trump feels a “real sense of betrayal” from Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, citing a person close to the president.
Tony Schwartz , the ghostwriter of Trump: The Art of the Deal , claimed that Trump now sees Kavanaugh and Gorsuch as his enemies. According to Schwartz, Trump has a black-and-white view of the world that requires absolute loyalty from his allies. Once this loyalty is not given from an ally, Schwartz says Trump cuts this person from his circle.
Richard Primus, a constitutional scholar at the University of Michigan Law School, believes that Kavanaugh and Gorsuch’s votes were made with consideration of a future without Trump, NBC News reported. With this future in mind, Primus suggested that Kavanaugh and Gorsuch are making sure they don’t “completely blow up the Constitution” on behalf of Trump.
As noted by CBC News , the decision to send the case to the lower courts means it’s unclear when it will be resolved. In this sense, the decision may benefit Trump as it will not likely resolve before the November election.
“Congressional subpoenas for information from the president, however, implicate special concerns regarding the separation of powers,” Roberts wrote in the congressional case. “The courts below did not take adequate account of those concerns.”
Kavanaugh and Gorsuch’s break from Trump comes as multiple Senate Republicans are choosing to forgo the upcoming Republican National Convention (RNC).
