The Donald Trump show stopped Saturday in Aiken, S.C., where the Republican presidential hopeful called Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts “a disgrace” during a rare question and answer forum.
Trump drew cheers and encouragement from about 4,000 supporters who attended the event.
Asked who he would appoint to the high court, Trump ripped Roberts, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush. Roberts “let us down” by casting a decisive vote that left the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate in place, Trump said. Trump said Roberts sold out conservatives in a bid to win popularity from Washington insiders.
The real estate developer and reality TV star said that if elected he would nominate jurists like Associate Justice Clarence Thomas to the court. Thomas is “very strong and consistent,” Trump said. He called Thomas his favorite court member.
Trump was repeatedly interrupted by protestors citing his recent call for at least temporarily banning Muslim immigrants from the United States.
As protestors were ejected, Trump, who recently suggested an effort to “close the Internet up in some way” to stop terrorist propaganda, said the protestors had a right to interrupt.
“That’s the beauty of our country, that you can do that” he said, adding that conservatives should protest more.
Trump vowed to undo President Obama’s executive actions, noting an advantage of the unilateral moves is that the next president can quickly reverse them.
Trump also denounced Congress for the “horrible budget that was just approved,” calling it “the biggest budget ever.”
He seemed to be referencing an omnibus spending measure that Congress has not passed. Lawmakers last week instead passed a continuing resolution to maintain current spending levels for five days while they negotiate detail of the two-year omnibus spending bill.
