'He can't possibly be stumped': Law professor exposes Trump's 'totally ridiculous' claim

05 May

CNN host Jake Tapper and Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe on CNN on May 5, 2025 (Image: Screengrab via CNN / YouTube)

Over the weekend, President Donald Trump claimed to not know that he had to uphold the Constitutional guarantee to due process under the law in his interview with NBC's Meet the Press. One expert in Constitutional law expert is now calling him out.

During a Monday interview with CNN host Jake Tapper, Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe — who is also the co-founder of the American Constitution Society — pointed out that there was nothing complicated about the due process clauses in the 5th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. And he opined that Trump was trying to feign ignorance in order to consolidate power.

"He can't possibly be stumped. You don't have to be a lawyer. All you have to do is be able to read," Tribe said. "It says that all persons are entitled to due process. And it certainly says that all officials of the state and federal governments are bound to support the Constitution. It's a simple as that."

"He takes an oath to uphold it and then he says he doesn't know if he has to uphold it? That's totally ridiculous and it's dangerous because it's trying to normalize the idea that he is outside and above the law," he continued. "But nobody is above the law in this country."

Trump's comments were in the context of the ongoing showdown between the Trump administration and the Supreme Court in the case of Kilmar Albrego Garcia, who the administration admitted was wrongly deported to El Salvador in March. The Supreme Court issued a 9-0 ruling ordering Trump to "facilitate" the return of Abrego Garcia back to the United States, though the administration's lawyers have claimed that their hands are tied since Abrego Garcia is now in another jurisdiction.

"When the court says nine to nothing that he's got to facilitate the turn of Garcia, and then [Trump advisor] Stephen Miller, who, by the way isn't a lawyer, says, 'oh, Mr. President, that doesn't mean you have to do anything,' that shows that they can just turn the thing upside down," Tribe said. "It's an Alice-in-Wonderland world where, if they don't want to do what the Supreme Court tells them to do, they pretend the Supreme Court told them the opposite. That's not the world that any of us grew up in, and it's a world that is made for dictators. But this country is not ruled by a dictator."

"Who determines whether somebody is deportable? Who determines whether somebody doesn't belong here or is a violent criminal? Certainly not the president. He can't be judge, jury, executioner all at once," he added. "He's trying to take unto himself the powers of every branch of government including now the judicial branch."

Watch the video of Tribe's comments below, or by clicking this link.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

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