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Comments About Hawaii Spark Outrage
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‘We Won’t Succumb to Your Dog Whistle Politics’
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is still hopping mad that a federal judge in Hawaii blocked President Donald Trump’s Muslim travel ban executive order last month, but his comments are sparking outrage. Sessions, in an interview with a far right wing radio host, referred to the 50th state as merely “an island in the Pacific.†That has many folks, including the state’s U.S. Senators, outraged.
“I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power,” Sessions told host Mark Levin, as CNN and Talking Points Memo report. The Attorney General was referring to 9th Circuit U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson, of Hawaii.
Sessions called Judge Watson’s ruling a “really weird interpretation” of Trump’s executive order, and, in what some see as a further inappropriate remark, said, “we need judges who follow the law, not make law.”Â
He went on to say that “judges don’t get to psychoanalyze the President to see if the order he issues is lawful. It’s either lawful or it’s not.” That’s actually false, and as Attorney General, Sessions should know better. There are many cases where courts have looked at the intent of lawmakers in deciding if a law is constitutional or not.Â
But many now are outraged at Sessions’ earlier remarks, denigrating the State of Hawaii, home to over 1.4 million Americans, including 75,000 U.S. military personnel.
U.S. Senator Brian Schatz took to Twitter to lambast Sessions, also reminding him that he voted to confirm Judge Watson:
And U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono also slammed Sessions:
Others expressed anger and outrage:
UPDATE:
California Congressman and Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee:
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Image by US DHS via Flickr and a CC licenseÂ