Emhoff hits Aileen Cannon as a judge who would ‘do Trump’s bidding’ while warning of possible future Trump SCOTUS nominees
By Aaron Pellish, CNN
(CNN) — Second gentleman Doug Emhoff criticized the federal judge who oversaw the classified documents case against Donald Trump at a fundraiser in Los Angeles on Tuesday, suggesting Trump would consider appointing her to the Supreme Court to do his “bidding” if he’s reelected.
At a private event benefiting Vice President Kamala Harris’ joint fundraising committee, Emhoff stressed the stakes of the election, arguing that if Trump defeats Harris, he could fill the next set of Supreme Court vacancies with judges who “don’t follow any precedent,” singling out District Judge Aileen Cannon, who oversaw the Trump classified documents case before dismissing it last month.
“(Trump)’s unfit to serve, he can’t get anywhere near the White House. But if somehow they win, they can actually appoint two or three more justices,” Emhoff said. “And they’re going to be, like, in the Aileen Cannon, they don’t follow any precedent, they’re just going to do Trump’s bidding type. And they’re going to be young, and they’re going to be on that bench for 30 or 40 years.”
Emhoff’s comments are notable because Harris has sought to distance herself from commenting on Trump’s legal cases. At multiple rallies in battleground states last week, she quieted down chants from members of the audience to “lock him up,” referring to Trump, by insisting Democrats should focus on defeating Trump at the ballot box.
The fundraiser, hosted by investment banker Stephen Paul and his wife Nancy Paul at their Beverly Hills home, raised over $3 million, Emhoff told the crowd.
Emhoff asked the crowd to support the campaign beyond offering financial support, noting “there’s a lot of lawyers here” and suggesting Republicans will engage in “shenanigans” around the election, without elaborating on what he meant.
“Let’s continue to raise the money, volunteer. I know there’s a lot of lawyers here, so there’s lots of — you know they’re going to do lots of shenanigans. They’re already talking about that,” Emhoff said. “So we gotta win, we gotta protect the win. So we’re gonna need lawyers. We’re gonna need volunteers.”
Emhoff’s most well-received line of the night came in attacking Trump for his age, calling him “disintegrating” and “degraded,” pointing to his conversation on X with Elon Musk in which it appeared as if he were slurring his words.
“She is strong and she can smell weakness, and Trump is weak. Let’s be honest, this fake tough guy act, this bullying, it’s all falling apart,” he said.
“And he’s also just disintegrating. You can see that. You can hear it last night. He’s literally, like I’ve said, he is a degraded version of an already horrible person,” he continued, prompting laughs and applause from the crowd.
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