President Donald Trump's nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, has called the president's sharp criticism of the judiciary "demoralizing" and "disheartening," a spokesman for Gorsuch said.
Gorsuch made his comments while meeting Wednesday with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, according to spokesman Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist hired by the White House to help guide Gorsuch's nomination through the U.S. Senate.
Gorsuch was asked to react to Trump's Twitter message calling District Judge James Robart, who on Friday put a hold on Trump's executive order temporarily banning travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, a "so-called judge."
Trump told the American people to blame Robart and the court system if "something happens" clearly meaning a terrorist attack on the United States.
The president also criticized the three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that is considering whether Robart had the legal grounds to suspend the January 27 executive order.
"I don't ever want to call a court biased, so I won't call it biased," Trump said. "The courts seem to be so political and it would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read a statement and do what's right."
U.S. presidents are usually hesitant to weigh in on judicial matters out of respect for a U.S. Constitution clause ensuring a separation of powers between the executive branch, Congress and the judiciary.
Earlier Wednesday, Trump told a gathering of law enforcement officials in Washington that he acted solely to protect the country when he temporarily banned immigration from those seven countries. Without specifying, he said the terror threat has gotten worse since he took office last month.
"Believe me, I've learned a lot in the last two weeks, and terrorism is a far greater threat than the people of our country understand," he said.
He added that even a "bad high school student" would be able to understand that he had the authority to take the executive action.
Tuesday hearing
In a hearing Tuesday, judges on the appeals court in San Francisco challenged the administration's claim that the ban was motivated by terrorism fears, but also questioned an attorney's argument that it unconstitutionally targeted Muslims.
The court said a decision will be reached as soon as possible.
All sides expect the issue to wind up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Reaction to Gorsuch
Gorsuch has paid a series of courtesy visits to senators, drawing praise from Republicans but skepticism from many Democrats.
Trump nominated Gorsuch on January 31 to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia on the nine-member court. Scalia died a year ago this month. Blumenthal is a member of the Judiciary Committee that will hold a confirmation hearing on Gorsuch's nomination.
"As the nominee of a President who has viciously attacked the independence of the judiciary and declared multiple litmus tests for justices, Judge Gorsuch has a special responsibility to reassure the American people that he will be an open-minded and independent jurist," Blumenthal said in a statement.
"If he wants the American people to believe that he is truly independent, Judge Gorsuch must tell them in no uncertain terms that President Trump's attacks are not just disappointing — they are abhorrent and destructive to our Constitutional system — and he must condemn them publicly," Blumenthal's statement said.
Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press and Reuters.
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