CNN’s Kaitlan Collins Calls BS On Claim Trump Appointee Is ‘Rogue Judge’

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins called BS on President Donald Trump’s anti-judge rant and senior adviser Peter Navarro’s claim that a Trump appointee is among a cadre of “rogue judges” ruling against Trump.

Trump ranted about the judges who ruled against his tariffs on Thursday, and singled out conservative ally Leonard Leo for advising him on judicial picks.

On Thursday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, the anchor played a confrontation with Navarro in which he attacked “rogue judges” — several of whom were appointed by Trump:

KAITLAN COLLINS: So you are working on a Plan B, right now?

PETER NAVARRO: Of course. There’s no Plan B. It’s Plan A, OK? Plan A accomplishes —

COLLINS: But isn’t Plan A in place right now?

NAVARRO: — all strategic options. And when we move forward, we had a full view of what the battlefield looks like. We are not naive about rogue justices in the judiciary, and Democrats filing lawsuits.

Collins then confronted Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) over Trump’s rant, and challenging the premise that Trump appointees are “rogue judges”:

KAITLAN COLLINS: On the President’s post tonight, having him weigh in, really, the first time we’ve seen him respond, and he’s blaming the Federalist Society for these judges. Congressman, isn’t President Trump responsible for who he nominates?

REP. BRANDON GILL: Well, listen, I think that there’s a huge problem in this country with rogue judges who are overstepping their authority, abusing their authority, to usurp the President’s power, and to thwart the agenda that voters elected him to do, whether it’s deporting illegal aliens or instituting tariffs. That’s not democratic, and that’s a huge problem. And I think that’s what the President is speaking out against, right here.

COLLINS: But do you consider a judge that he appointed a rogue judge?

GILL: Well, I think, in this case, I don’t agree with the ruling. I agree with the President. I think that this was an overstep of that Court’s authority.

I think that the American people can see that we have a huge problem, right now, with large and persistent trade deficits. That’s a national security issue. That is an issue that falls under President Trump’s powers, as Commander-in-Chief of the United States, and he is taking action to alleviate that problem. That’s what he’s doing here.

I don’t think that that ruling was proper. In particular, given the context that just a few months ago, the Senate took up the question of whether the President have the power in the first place to institute these tariffs, they decided not to stop him. That this is something that the President was elected to do, a power that he has. And I think these judges are overstepping their authority.

COLLINS: Some people might ask, how do you convince a court that it’s an emergency, if we’ve had a trade deficit since 1975?

GILL: Well, you can have a trade deficit since 1975 that is getting worse, and worse, and worse, and is also something that culminates into a problem.

Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.