'The only one spewing' is you!: CNN host battles MAGA lawmaker in heated legal debate
Many of President Donald Trump's executive orders are running into roadblocks in the federal courts. Trump allies like Vice President JD Vance and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk are arguing that federal judges have no business interfering with the U.S. government's executive branch, and quite a few legal scholars are responding that in fact, the federal judges' actions are perfectly legitimate under the system of checks and balances outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
The debate over Trump's executive orders on deportations and the duties of federal judges turned downright contentious when Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tennessee) — a far-right Trump supporter — made a Tuesday morning, March 18 appearance on CNN and got into a heated conversation with host John Berman.
Berman brought up tensions between the Trump Administration and federal judges when it comes to deportations. And the CNN host dived right into constitutional issues, asking Burchett what "Article 3 of the Constitution says about a judge's responsibility in federal law."
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Burchett responded that a Barack Obama-appointed judge "has no standing" on a Trump deportation order.
The Tennessee congressman told Berman, "It's just political posturing, in my opinion. You've got murderers, rapists, child predators, child traffickers that are here in this country illegally. They're here illegally. They're not American citizens, and we finally have a president that understands that. We had 14 million of these of folks coming in illegally, that our systems are stretched to the limits to to manage. And finally, somebody's doing something about it."
Burchett continued, "And then you have a judge step in and say, no, in fact, the president does not have that ability. So I stand with President Trump. I think it's a complete overreach by this judge. And he's an activist."
But Berman didn't let up on his constitutional argument, remining Burchett what Article 3 says and noting, "The Constitution states pretty clearly that federal judges interpret federal law." And the conversation between Berman and Burchett grew increasingly testy.
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Burchett angrily told Berman, "Eighty-five percent of this country does not support what you are spewing" — to which Berman responded, "The only guy who's spewing is the guy who's talking uninterrupted right now."
Burchett continued to rant, telling Berman, "These judges, he'll sit on his a-- for months so these criminals can stay in this country. This is all this is. This is overreach. And I guarantee you, if his kids had been murdered or raped, as has happened in this country, to several American citizens by these thugs, that he would be taking a different position. But he's protected; you all protect him."
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