Ted Olson is best known to Americans for being the conservative lawyer who supports same-sex marriage and took California’s Prop 8 case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. He was also President George W. Bush’s Solicitor General – after successfully arguing Bush v. Gore at the Supreme Court, which put the Texas Republican governor in the White House.
President Donald Trump reportedly is “shaking up” his legal defense team – although in reality attorneys are quitting or leaking they’re thinking of quitting, or finding reasons to not come on board.
Trump wants to hire Olson but Olson is saying no. The global co-chair of the law firm at which Olson is a partner took the unusual step of announcing that response personally:
Olson sat down with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Monday afternoon, and dropped a few bombs on the head of his party, President Donald Trump.
“I think everybody would agree: This is turmoil, it’s chaos, it’s confusion, it’s not good for anything,” Olson said, speaking of the Trump White House staff changes, as The Washington Post noted. “We always believe that there should be an orderly process, and, of course, government is not clean or orderly ever. But this seems to be beyond normal.”
Olson also strongly disagrees with President Trump’s decision to ban transgender service members.
“I feel very, very strongly that transgender persons in the United States are citizens, they’re entitled to respect, they’re entitled to their dignity, and should be treated with dignity,” Olson told Mitchell. “It’s unfortunate, they’re in a situation where they’re trying in the military, to defend us, and they’re discriminated against, they’re victims of discrimination because of who they are. I think that’s very sad. I hope it’ll be changed.”