With the allegedly confirmed statement from Trump's Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, who reportedly told Senator Richard Blumenthal that he found Trump's judge commentary "disheartening"and "demoralizing", dominating the overnight news cycle, in his first tweet of the day, President Trump contradicted a spokesman for his Supreme Court nominee, in a tweet blasting Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who told reporters last night that Judge Neil Gorsuch called Trump's tweets attacking federal judges "demoralizing."
"Sen.Richard Blumenthal, who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had (major lie),now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?" the president tweeted Thursday morning.
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
As reported overnight, Blumenthal said Wednesday that Gorsuch allegedly called Trump's tweets attacking federal judges "disheartening" and "demoralizing." In a later statement, Blumenthal urged Gorsuch to make his concerns public.
"Behind closed doors, Judge Gorsuch expressed disappointment with President Trump’s attacks on the judiciary, but a Supreme Court Justice must prove that he has the courage and independence to stand up to a President in public," Blumenthal said. "I asked Judge Gorsuch to make that statement publicly, and he declined."
Later, a spokesman for Gorsuch confirmed to CNN that the judge used the terms "disheartening" and "demoralizing" to describe Trump's tweets during his meeting with the Blumenthal.
The statement was in connection to Trump's ongoing feud with the judges who have rejected Trump's immigration executive order. On Saturday, Trump ripped "so-called judge" James Robart who halted his travel ban, saying the ruling was "ridiculous and will be overturned."
Later in the week, the president also went after the panel of federal judges weighing the Department of Justice's appeal to restore the travel ban. “I don’t want to call a court biased, so I won’t call it biased,” Trump said at a gathering of the Major Cities Chiefs Association in Washington. “Courts seem to be so political and it would be so great for our justice system if they could read a statement and do what’s right.”
The Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is expected to rule on the government's request to overturn the Temporary Restraining Order today or tomorrow.
Gorsuch has yet to make a public statement on his opinion of the ongoing Presidential feud with the abovementioned judges.