Trump isn't happy that his Supreme Court nominee criticized him, so he attacked the messenger

Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Judge Neil Gorsuch
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

On Thursday, President Trump's first tweet of the day was a critique of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who on Wednesday had met with Trump's Supreme Court nominee, federal appellate Judge Neil Gorsuch, and released a statement saying Gorsuch was unhappy with Trump's criticism of the judicial branch. Trump noted that Blumenthal had misrepresented his military service during the Vietnam War when he was running for Senate in 2010, called that a "major lie," then asked how Blumenthal "now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?"

Blumenthal said Wednesday that Gorsuch had called Trump's "so-called judge" tweet, on top of the president's other disparagement of the judiciary, "demoralizing and disheartening, and he characterized them very specifically that way." A spokesman for Gorsuch, Ron Bonjean, confirmed that Gorsuch had called Trump's tweet about a fellow federal judge "disheartening" and "demoralizing." That did not satisfy Blumenthal, in any case, who said he still isn't sure if he will vote to confirm Gorsuch. "I said they were more than disheartening and I said to him that he has an obligation to make his views clear to the American people, so they understand how abhorrent or unacceptable President Trump's attacks on the judiciary are," Blumenthal told CNN. He reiterated the point to CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday morning, and said Trump is steering America toward a "constitutional crisis":

See more

Trump has not yet explained which part of Blumenthal's characterization of his conversation with Gorsuch he finds inaccurate, but he followed up with a second tweet complaining that Cuomo did not ask Blumenthal about "his long-term lie about his brave 'service' in Vietnam." In 2010, Blumenthal, who was in the Marine Corps Reserve starting in 1970, said he should have said he served "during" Vietnam, not "in" Vietnam; Connecticut elected him anyway, then re-elected him in November. Trump received four deferrals from serving in the military during Vietnam due to a bone spur in his foot.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.