Former President Donald Trump praised Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas on Thursday, but called on his own high court picks to be "stronger."
Speaking on The Dan Bongino Show, Trump gave high marks to Thomas and Alito, after the latter's recent refusal to recuse himself from cases related to Jan. 6, 2021, and the former president. Trump didn't openly criticize the three Supreme Court justices he appointed Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, but simply said they need to be "tough."
"Alito's great," Trump said. "Thomas is great. The three that I put in, I mean, it's a little early, but … people are starting to warm up to them. I will say this, but they've got to be stronger, they've got to be tough. Alito's been very tough, very good, and Thomas has been good.
"It's such an important position, such a big deal, but when I look at the way they're treated, they play the ref, they try and scare 'em," he continued. "Look, they're humans like everybody else. They try and do [college basketball coach] Bobby Knight — you know the great Bobby Knight, he'd scream, scream, scream — and Bobby would say 'Well, you're not gonna win this one but we'll win the next call.' And that's what they do with our judges."
In a Truth Social post on Wednesday, Trump pointed to Alito as an example that "all U.S. judges, justices, and leaders" should emulate.
"Congratulations to United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and 'GUTS' to refuse stepping aside from making a decision on anything January 6th related," he said on his social media platform Truth Social. "All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT — Our Country would be far more advanced than its current status as A BADLY FAILING NATION, headed by the Worst President in American History, Crooked Joe Biden!"
Democrats have called on Alito to recuse himself from Jan. 6 and Trump cases because of two flags that flew over his homes in the last three years. In letters to members of Congress on Wednesday, Alito said his wife, Martha-Ann, was responsible for flying an upside-down American flag over their Virginia home in 2021 and an "Appeal to Heaven" flag at their New Jersey beach house last year. Both flags are similar to ones carried by protesters who breached the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 6, 2021.
The justice wrote that neither incident warranted his recusal.
Thomas has faced calls to recuse himself over his wife's alleged support for Trump's efforts to investigate election fraud and challenge the results of the 2020 election.
"Clarence Thomas is participating in a supreme court hearing today on donald trump's eligibility after trying to overthrow the government even though thomas's wife conspired to help trump," Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-N.J., posted on X. "It's no wonder public trust in the court is terrible. Corrupt thomas should resign."
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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