Muslim Ban

Trump has petitioned the newly-populated Supreme Court to reinstate his Muslim ban. This is their argument:

Quote :

The 10-to-3 ruling last week was one in a series of legal defeats for the administration, as judges across the country have said Trump’s claim of protecting the nation was cover for making good on a campaign promise to ban Muslims from entry into the United States.

In turning to the high court, Justice Department lawyers said the 4th Circuit should have considered only the language of the executive order and not second guessed the president’s motivations.

The Supreme Court “has never invalidated religion-neutral government action based on speculation about officials’ subjective motivations drawn from campaign-trail statements by a political candidate,” the government’s lawyers wrote in their filing.

That is because there's never been a presidential candidate, politician or public figure before stupid enough to propose a Muslim ban.

Quote :

In turning to the high court, Justice Department lawyers said the 4th Circuit should have considered only the language of the executive order and not second guessed the president’s motivations.

The Supreme Court “has never invalidated religion-neutral government action based on speculation about officials’ subjective motivations drawn from campaign-trail statements by a political candidate,” the government’s lawyers wrote in their filing.

The highlighted bits are complete absurdity. There is no second guessing or speculation when the asshole has been yammering about the reasons for the action for months ad nauseam.

In Trump's world, things he has said or done in the past do not exist once he disavows them.

The national security trope would also be a bit more believable if he banned immigrants from countries that had attacked the US, rather than from ones where he does not do business (meanwhile signing a multi-billion dollar arms deal with the biggest culprit).