CNN’s Abby Phillip Rips Trump Meltdown Over Blockbuster Ruling — Even Scott Jennings Thinks He Should’ve Been ‘Cooler’
CNN anchor Abby Phillip blasted President Donald Trump’s meltdown following the Supreme Court’s tariff ruling, and even CNN GOP analyst Scott Jennings said he would have chosen a “cooler” response for Trump.
On Friday afternoon, Trump held a briefing to blast the bombshell Supreme Court decision striking down his emergency tariff regime. The 6-3 decision included Republican-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts, and Trump-appointed Justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, as well as the three Democratic-appointed justices.
During that briefing, Trump lashed out at the justices with unbridled bitterness.
On Friday’s edition of CNN NewsNight, Phillip derided Trump’s reaction, and Jennings said he’d have recommended Trump “do nothing”:
PHILLIP: Tonight, it appears that the honeymoon period between President Trump and his handpicked Supreme Court justices is over, at least for two of them. Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch are now officially on Trump’s bad list after they sided with the liberal justices to torpedo his tariffs.
Now, Trump took that personally and didn’t hold back his frustration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And I’m ashamed of certain members of the court.
They’re just being fools and lap dogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats.
They’re very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.
They don’t want to do the right thing. They’re afraid of it.
The court meant it because the court doesn’t show great spirit toward our country, in my opinion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Real respect for the institution there on the part of the president. The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board blasted Trump tonight in an editorial, “President Trump owes the Supreme Court an apology to the individual justices he smeared on Friday and to the institution itself. Mr. Trump doubtless won’t offer one, but his rant in response to his tariff defeat at the court was arguably the worst moment of his presidency.”
Scott, I think you were right, that this is a moment that illustrates, yes, the wheels of democracy are still turning, but the president, according to The Wall Street Journal just showed his, you know, other side.
JENNINGS: Well, he gets very upset about this topic. I mean, I’ve talked to him about it, interviewed him about it, and he’s certainly spoken about it publicly. This is his longest and most closely held political view, that tariffs are good, that they help the president effect positive outcomes for the country, and the idea that it would be restrained from him is hateful to him. I went back and listened to an interview I did with him on September 2nd of last year, and he was talking about how weak and poor this would make the United States if this ruling were to come down.
I listened to his entire press conference today. I was thinking about if I were advising him what I would’ve told him to do, I almost think I wouldn’t have done anything. I think I would have just said, okay, thanks, and signed the executive order for the other statutory —
PHILLIP: You would’ve told him to do nothing?
JENNINGS: Yes. I think I wouldn’t have said a word because they had a plan B. And if you listen to the arguments when they were made, it was obvious the court was headed in this direction. And so part of the way you could have played it today is to simply have done nothing, said, thank you Supreme Court, by the way, here are my new statutory authorities and we’re going to re-implement these tariffs. And I believe the way it all shakes out, the rates are all roughly the same. And so that would’ve been maybe a cooler and more confident way it played out.
PHILLIP: They’re the same as — just to be clear, same as before.
Watch above via CNN NewsNight.
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