President Donald Trump approaches Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
President Donald Trump has launched numerous attacks against the Supreme Court and had numerous tantrums when they do not rule his way, but as one top court expert told CNN, this assault is almost certainly backfiring.
Joan Biskupic is an author and reporter known for her extensive coverage of the Supreme Court dating back to 1989, having published numerous biographies of the court's justices. On Sunday, she appeared as a guest on CNN, where host Manu Raju pressed her about the situation surrounding the court, and in particular, how much Trump's increasing attacks against it are likely to sway its rulings.
As Biskupic explained, the criticisms do concern the justices to a certain degree, but they also have a way of emboldening them, in a way likely to blow up in Trump's face.
"Well, they don't like the criticism. And what they worry about is that it gins up people on the outside," she explained. "That would additionally harass the justices at a time when they're so concerned about security... But I think overall, none of them like the kind of atmosphere that they're in now, where they're getting so much criticism."
She added later: "But what it does for some of them, including, I think, the Chief Justice, is it's a little bit of a badge of honor. Because, you know, Chief Justice John Roberts and several of his conservative colleagues are often seen as, you know, in the bag for Donald Trump, that they're only ruling for Donald Trump. They're not. They've given Donald Trump plenty, but when the president criticizes them, they can say, 'See, he doesn't like us either.'"
Biskupic also noted that the increasing barrage of criticism from Trump has the court, and Roberts in particular, fearful that future leaders may expand the number of justices on the court as part of a broader reform plan. They worry that appearing to rule in lockstep with Trump would accelerate that possibility.
"What they also fear is, especially from progressives and moderates, is the idea that there are proposals out there for court expansion, for court packing," Biskupic said. "And they see that as a real threat to their integrity. So they're trying — the chief justice, John Roberts, is trying to navigate a course where he is very conservative, and he is ruling for a lot of the president's initiatives, but he doesn't want the court to be seen as linking arms with Donald Trump."
