Blanche Defends Trump's Criticism of Supreme Court After Mail-Ballot Ruling

Attorney General Todd Blanche on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump's sharp criticism of the Supreme Court, saying the president has every right to air his disagreements with another branch of government.

Speaking at a White House briefing in the Rose Garden, Blanche said Trump was "very frustrated" after the court rejected his administration's planned restrictions on mail-in ballots for this year's midterm elections. The ruling came on Monday, and by Tuesday morning Trump had taken to his TruthSocial platform to denounce the decision and the justices who ruled against him.

"These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves," Trump wrote.

Blanche dismissed the suggestion that the president's remarks undermine the independence of the judiciary. "He has every right, and indeed, he should communicate his concerns with the Supreme Court whenever he has them," Blanche said. "This isn't the first time that he's done it, and it won't be the last."

He noted that Trump has also publicly praised the court when he agrees with its decisions, describing such back-and-forth as a normal feature of a democracy built on three branches of government. Blanche added that he too disagreed with the ruling, and that the administration's position was clear from its legal filings and public statements.

Asked whether he would have advised a private client to disparage a court in the way Trump has, Blanche pushed back, saying the president's role is different. "The real question is whether the President of the United States is allowed to be critical of another branch of government? And the answer to that is absolutely, of course he is," he said.

The attorney general said the administration would comply with the decision but would not abandon its efforts to ensure free and fair elections. He said the ruling would not affect ongoing criminal investigations into illegal voting, and that work to combat voter fraud would continue beyond November.

On the Justice Department's role in the upcoming midterm elections, Blanche said federal involvement in elections is longstanding and not unique to this administration, adding that the department would carry out its duties under the law as previous administrations have done.