President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday and ripped a Washington Post story that alleged he was close to yanking his nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch before he could be confirmed. WaPo reported earlier in the day that Trump felt as though Gorsuch would not be loyal to him, and that he considered replacing him with another justice.
Trump, according to several people with knowledge of the discussions, was upset that Gorsuch had pointedly distanced himself from the president in a private February meeting with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), telling the senator he found Trump’s repeated attacks on the federal judiciary “disheartening” and “demoralizing.”
The president worried that Gorsuch would not be “loyal,” one of the people said, and told aides that he was tempted to pull Gorsuch’s nomination — and that he knew plenty of other judges who would want the job.
The president did not take kindly to this, and called the newspaper "FAKE NEWS." Trump denied that he ever reconsidered Gorsuch, and said he was "very proud of him and the job he is doing as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court."
A story in the @washingtonpost that I was close to “rescinding” the nomination of Justice Gorsuch prior to confirmation is FAKE NEWS. I never even wavered and am very proud of him and the job he is doing as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The unnamed sources don’t exist!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2017
Further, he accused the Washington Post of inventing the "unnamed sources." Trump claimed that they simply do not exist.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member