Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer used a rare televised interview aired Sunday to not answer multiple political questions.
Appearing on ABC to promote his book arguing the American judges should consider foreign courts’ rulings, Breyer spent much his time cheerfully avoiding questions on the 2016 presidential race.
Breyer said it woudl be inappropriate to air public opinions on political matters including Donald Trump. He was also mum on whether or not he’d delay his retirement in the event of a Trump or Ted Cruz presidency.
“Every person in the United States has a right to an opinion on [Trump] which he can express publicly, except for me,” Breyer told host Jonathan Karl on “This Week.”
“A judge has to do his best not to have an opinion on a political matter like that, which is highly political, and if I have opinion, I might talk to my wife about it,” Breyer said.
“I’m not even going to answer the question of whether I talk to my wife about it,” he added.
On Trump’s proposal to temporarily bar Muslim entry into the U.S., Breyer said, “That’s his affair.”
The justice did say that he doubted Americans today would allow the internment of Japanese-Americans that occured during the Second World War. Trump cited the internment camps to justify barring Muslims.
Breyer, 78, would not answer if the possibility of a Trump or Texas Senator Ted Cruz presidency would encourage him to postpone potential retirement.
“I’m asking you a direct question,” Karl said, pressing the issue.
“I know you’re asking a direct question, and I’m giving you an indirect response,” Breyer said, smiling.
Cruz was a Supreme Court law clerk earlier in Breyer’s tenure, in the 1990s, working for the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
Cruz has denounced the modern court. He has called for an end to automatic life tenure for Supreme Court justices, instead favoring judicial retention elections.
