Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that if President Donald Trump continued to make statements about impeaching judges, he could “tick off” the Supreme Court and lose cases.
Christie said, “Look, it is the MO of this first quarter of the Trump administration, which is we are going to try to use the power of the presidency in every way we can, and in this instance to intimidate people from availing themselves of the rights they have as American citizens to access the court system if they think the government has done something wrong. Any suit that’s filed against Trump’s administration, Donald Trump will, by definition, believe is frivolous and vexatious. What he’s saying to them is, punish anybody who sues us. Again, if people stand up and say, I don’t care, I don’t think that this is going to be a huge problem, but if they continue to act like Paul Weiss did and cave and be intimidated, well then we’re going to have a much different legal system in this country.”
Host Jonathan Karl asked, “Quickly, before we go, do you think he can count on the Supreme Court?”
Christie said, “I think John Roberts agrees with him on a majority of the executive power issues but if what he does is continue to make statements like impeach judges I disagree with he is going to tick off the Supreme Court so much they may not give him everything he wants. So even though they may agree philosophically, Roberts cares about the most, what John Roberts cares about the most is the independence and reputation of the court. If he looks like Trump is making him look like he is in his pocket he may go the other way. So Trump tactically should keep quiet on the judges. Don’t make Chief Justice Roberts come after you.”
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