CNN political commentator Angela Rye on Monday explained the problem with reports Donald Trump considered rescinding Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court nomination, pointing to the president’s pattern of demanding personal loyalty over loyalty to American democracy.
As the Washington Post reported Monday, Trump considered pulling Gorsuch’s nomination over concerns he would not be “loyal” to him after his then-nominee reportedly called the president’s attacks on the judicial system “disheartening.”
Scott Jennings, the former special assistant to the president under George W. Bush, dismissed the Post, arguing the publication was “playing ‘Gossip Girl’” with its report.
“I mean, the reality is I went to breakfast this morning and considered having a cheese danish and made a much better decision to have bacon and eggs, so the president did the right thing,” Jennings (apparently) argued. “[Gorsuch] is his main accomplishment this year, it's a great one and I don't see what the big deal is.”
Rye noted “loyalty” is a “word that keeps coming up and permeates this administration,” arguing Trump “is under the delusion and illusion that people owe him a loyalty pledge rather than taking that oath, passing the bar as now-Justice Neil Gorsuch had to do.”
“He does not owe Donald Trump his loyalty,” Rye continued. “He owes his loyalty to the bench. There are three branches of government, the judiciary is one. And I don't know how many times we've said—whether it was during the campaign, during the transition period or after he was sworn into office—this is not normal. This is not an authoritarian government. There are three branches of government, all to hold one or the other accountable. This is not about your cheese danish, Scott, this is about ensuring that you understand you have to up hold the law, not about Donald Trump's fragile ego.”
Watch the video below, via CNN:
