Attorney General Jeff Sessions said he was “amazed” that a federal judge in Hawaii was able to block President Donald Trump’s executive order that would have blocked immigrants from several majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States.
Speaking on the Mark Levin Show on Wednesday, Sessions said the comments about Judge Derrick Watson, who blocked a revised version of Trump’s travel ban on the grounds that its primary purpose was to prevent Muslims from entering the country.
Watson also referenced the many times the executive order was called a “Muslim ban.”
“I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power,” Sessions said.
Sessions also called the Ninth Circuit, which covers much of the west coast of the United States, “very, very liberal,” adding that he was “confident” Trump would prevail in his appeal of the decision.
Sen. Mazie Hirono, Democrat of Hawaii, slammed Sessions’ comment on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
Hey Jeff Sessions, this #IslandinthePacific has been the 50th state for going on 58 years. And we won’t succumb to your dog whistle politics
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 20, 2017
Hawaii was built on the strength of diversity & immigrant experiences- including my own. Jeff Sessions’ comments are ignorant & dangerous
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 20, 2017
Sessions also said judges should “psychoanalyze” Trump to determine the lawfulness of the executive order and praised newly sworn in Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch during the interview.
H/T: CNN