Donald Trump is accusing President Barack Obama of insulting the Supreme Court, saying he has no business questioning the court’s authority to decide the constitutionality of Obamacare.
“It’s almost like first grade stuff, and I was just absolutely shocked when I heard him make a statement that was against everything the country stands for,” the real estate mogul told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren Wednesday night. “But more importantly, even intellectually how could he make a statement so ridiculous?”
Trump made the comments a day after Obama attempted to back off a statement earlier this week in which he said a Supreme Court decision overturning Obamacare would amount to the kind of “judicial activism” that Republican conservatives have long complained about.
“The point I was making is that the Supreme Court is the final say on our Constitution and our laws and all of us have to respect it,” Obama said Tuesday. “But it’s precisely because of that extraordinary power that the court has traditionally exercised significant restraint and deference to our duly-elected legislature, our Congress.”
Some political observers interpreted the original comments as an attempt by the president to intimidate the court into upholding the individual mandate in the law requiring all Americans to buy health insurance or pay a penalty.
But Trump implied that Obama’s comments were simply stupid and suggested that even though the president is a lawyer by trade, he doesn’t understand the role of highest court in the land.
“No matter how you look at it, it’s very, very disrespectful to the Supreme Court. These are brilliant people,” Trump told Van Susteren, adding that he “can’t imagine they are going to like at all” what the president said.
Trump also called the president’s remarks “disrespectful even to the country,” which relies on the courts as the final arbiter in enforcing the rule of law.
“The Supreme Court is the Supreme Court for a reason,” Trump said. “And it almost is as though he didn’t care what they said and they shouldn’t be making the decision, and this decision is above them, and they don’t exist.”
Turning to the upcoming court decision on Obamacare, Trump said he believes the justices “will be doing a tremendous service to the country if they strike it down because we can’t afford it, and it’s not good healthcare.”
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