Trump-Appointed SCOTUS Justice Dunks on Solicitor General’s Argument: ‘Not Seeing’ the Constitutional ‘Relevance’

Trump-appointed Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh openly dunked on a point presented repeatedly by U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer during oral arguments in the birthright citizenship before the court and warned he was “not seeing” its constitutional “relevance.”

Kavanaugh challenged Sauer for comparing the U.S.’s 14th Amendment, which grants all people born in the U.S. citizenship, to the laws in other “modern nations” during oral arguments on Wednesday as he appealed the striking down of an executive order seeking to limit birthright citizenship for those born on American soil.

Opening for the administration, Sauer argued that “unrestricted birthright citizenship contradicts the practice of the overwhelming majority of modern nations.”

Sauer followed that the practice “demeans the priceless and profound gift of American citizenship” and had “spawned a sprawling industry of birth tourism” in which foreigners “with no meaningful ties to the United States” flock to the country. The argument was repeated several times during questions.

But Kavanaugh, appointed by the president in 2018, signaled skepticism about whether comparisons with other countries carried any weight in the case at all, even as President Donald Trump sat in attendance, the first sitting president to ever to do so.

“You’ve mentioned several times the practices of other countries and that obviously as a policy matter supports what you are arguing here,” Kavanaugh said. “Obviously we try to interpret American law with American precedent based on American history. That is what I try to do and what you try to do.”

He continued: “So why should we be thinking about, as a policy matter I get the point, thinking about ‘Gee, European countries don’t have this, or most other countries, many other countries in the world don’t have this, doesn’t that-, I guess I’m not seeing the relevance as a legal constitutional interpretive matter necessarily, although I understand it is a very good point as a policy matter,.

Sauer pushed back, replying: “I largely agree with that and you can view it as being raised preemptively, defensively, going first as the other side will make end of the world type predictions [about a reinterpretation of birthright citizenship].”

“Our point is, you know, it’s a very small minority, because almost every country, and certainly all European countries, have a different rule, and the world hasn’t ended there,” the lawyer said.

Watch above via Fox News.

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