Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday blasted President Trump for saying he doesn’t know if he has to uphold the Constitution amid his sweeping immigration crackdown.
During a “Meet the Press” interview with NBC News’s Kristen Walker, the president said he was “relying” on Attorney General Pam Bondi to guide the administration’s response to a Supreme Court ruling directing his administration to “facilitate” the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a wrongfully deported Maryland man.
When asked by Welker about whether he must uphold the Constitution when it comes to deportations, Trump said, “I don’t know. I have to respond by saying, again, I have brilliant lawyers that work for me, and they are going to obviously follow what the Supreme Court said. What you said is not what I heard the Supreme Court said. They have a different interpretation.”
In response to a clip posted to the social platform X, Schumer said the president “has just admitted that he ‘doesn’t know’ whether he needs to uphold the Constitution.”
“This is as un-American as it gets,” he added.
Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen (Md.) said late last month that the U.S. is in a constitutional crisis with the Trump administration “flouting the courts.”
“Do you think that the Trump administration is ignoring the courts? Do you think that the country is currently in a constitutional crisis?” Welker asked Van Hollen on “Meet the Press” at the time.
“Oh, yes, we are. [They are] very much flouting the courts as we speak. As the courts have said, facilitating his return means something more than doing nothing. And they are doing nothing. Yes, they’re absolutely in violation of the court orders as we speak,” Van Hollen responded, speaking about Abrego Garcia.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment.