White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted on Thursday that Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch is not directly criticizing President Trump during his meetings with senators.
After meeting with Gorsuch on Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal told reporters the Supreme Court nominee described Trump’s criticism of a Seattle judge who blocked his travel ban as “disheartening” and “demoralizing.”
Trump responded by suggesting that Blumenthal had “mischaracterized” Gorsuch’s comments, even after Gorsuch’s confirmation team confirmed its validity.
“The way that Sen. Blumenthal characterized them — he was talking about [Trump’s] tweets and saying that he was ‘disheartened,'” Spicer claimed. “That’s not what the judge said. He was making two very complete and distinct arguments about … how as a whole he does not like attacks on the judiciary.”
Spicer said Gorsuch was “very clear that he was not commenting on any specific matter.”
“So to take what he said about a generalization and apply it to a specific is not what he intended him to do,” Spicer added.
Despite the controversy Trump has created by attacking the Seattle judge, his spokesman said he will “continue to speak his mind.”
“It goes back to Thomas Jefferson that presidents have commented on judiciary nominees,” Spicer said. “I mean the idea of one branch talking about or commenting about another branch is as old as our republic.”
Spicer also noted that Trump will “absolutely” stand by his nomination of Gorsuch to fill the vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing.
