Donald Trump has stirred up his administration's stance against the Supreme Court and is blurring the line of law, a political analyst has claimed.
The president made it clear he did not agree with the 6-3 vote against his tariff policy, with the Supreme Court ruling that Trump must seek Congressional approval to raise tariff percentages. This, among other court cases he and the admin are fielding, could be a reason behind Trump's dressing down of the legal body during his State of the Union address earlier this week.
Political analyst Chauncey DeVega believes the president is trying to create a dual system where his word and the rulings of the Supreme Court are completely separate. DeVega wrote in his Salon column, "Trump views the courts as his personal servants, not as a coequal branch of government.
"By attacking the justices and suggesting they are pawns of some non-existent foreign conspiracy, he is simultaneously imperiling their safety and undermining the Constitution by suggesting they are traitors who are serving foreign interests, making them illegitimate.
"Trump views the Supreme Court as a means of rubber-stamping his agenda to make his attacks on democracy 'legal,' such as when the right-wing justices ruled that the president has king-like powers, so long as he invokes 'presidential responsibilities.' But when a majority of the justices disagree with or oppose him, the Court becomes an enemy."
DeVega went on to suggest that the way Trump views the court is a dual state system, where a "facade of normalcy" hides an "authoritarian state". Not only that, but a dwindling trust in government bodies, including the Supreme Court, could be bolstering the president.
She added, "According to reports that originated with former Salon reporter Roger Sollenberger and NPR, the Justice Department is actively suppressing evidence of Trump’s alleged involvement in the Epstein scandal by withholding and removing documents related to the president, including a victim of Epstein who claims she was the victim of a violent sexual assault by Trump. (Being mentioned in the Epstein files does not necessarily indicate guilt or criminal wrongdoing.)
"Under Trump, the dual legal state is not a warning. It is rapidly becoming the norm — and we are seeing the results in what has become a full-on legitimacy crisis in the United States.
"The American people, by large margins, are losing faith in their government. This includes the Supreme Court, which has historically been the country’s most trusted democratic institution but has now lost much of its prestige and respect."