Conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was issued a blistering denunciation Tuesday for his rare rebuke of President Donald Trump, one that journalist Prem Thakker argued amounted to “crying crocodile tears.”
On Monday, Roberts joined his three liberal colleagues in opposing the continued construction of Trump’s White House ballroom project, calling it “likely unlawful.” Roberts, however, was in the minority, and by a 5-4 decision, construction on Trump’s project was permitted to continue for the time being.
Given Roberts’ lengthy record of enabling Trump’s unprecedented expansion of executive power, however, Thakker argued that, perhaps, “so much ink need not have been spilled” for Roberts to write his dissent.
“Roberts joined the three liberals, but it was hard to escape the feeling that the man who has done more than most to give Trump what he wants might be crying crocodile tears,” Thakker wrote in an analysis published Tuesday in Zeteo. “Not least because he decided to write about crocodiles.”
Indeed, Roberts mentioned crocodiles in his dissent no less than two times to further explain his opposition to Trump’s White House expansion project, giving cause for Thakker’s characterization of Roberts’ dissent. As to why Thakker felt "crocodile tears” was a fitting metaphor for Roberts’ decision, he pointed to the countless examples in which Roberts had backed Trump from the bench.
Roberts’ votes helped enshrine Trump with absolute immunity and the ability to fire leaders of independent agencies. For him to finally take a stand against the president over a construction project at the White House, Thakker argued, was nothing more than performative.
“Surely the whole thing should’ve been that simple. Trump’s ballroom is unlawful,” Thakker wrote. “But then, this is constitutional law, which is never simple, and always political, and the presidential crocodile Roberts helped create has long escaped control. On Monday, five of Trump’s six right-wingers were happy to let him carry on running amok.”