In a private meeting between Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, the Senator pressed Gorsuch for his reaction to Trump’s attacks against the judiciary. Gorsuch tentatively admitted it was “demoralizing” and “disheartening.” The Senator then publicized those comments widely.
This was a fantastically watery response levered out of a nominee in a purportedly private conversation. The press breathlessly characterize it was groundbreaking. The NY Times wrote, in part:
The spectacle of a Supreme Court nominee breaking so starkly with the president who named him underscored the unusual nature of Mr. Trump’s public feud with the judiciary.
Really?
Unsurprisingly, Trump had a few tweets:
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had (major lie), now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
Chris Cuomo, in his interview with Sen. Blumenthal, never asked him about his long-term lie about his brave “service” in Vietnam. FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017
Blumenthal served six years in the Marines during the Vietnam war that Trump missed because of bone spurs. More to the point, there were witnesses to the Gorsuch conversation who agreed he was talking about Trump’s recent actions.
Until Trump puked on it, the whole thing smelled like a manipulative attempt to burnish Gorsuch’s credentials. The witness who confirmed the confirmation was one of Gorsuch’s handlers, hired by the administration to guide him through confirmation. Now, though, it’s hard to know if Trump is blowing up his own manipulation. Maybe they didn’t tell him?
