58 Percent of Americans Back Impeaching Trump If He Ignored Supreme Court

Is the Trump Administration “defying” the U.S. Supreme Court?

That argument has been put forward numerous times in the last week, including by Democratic members of Congress who are pushing to impeach Trump for that very reason.

Trump Defying the Supreme Court?

At issue is the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who was deported to El Salvador.

The Supreme Court issued an emergency ruling in which it ordered the Trump Administration to “facilitate” the return of Garcia from El Salvador, which they have not done.

The Administration admitted in court that it had made an “administrative error” in sending Garcia to El Salvador; Garcia has not been convicted of any crime.

They now say they cannot bring him back, while attempting to smear him as a gang member, with the White House X account posting fake pictures of Garcia’s tattoos to imply that he is a member of the MS-13 gang.

Are they defying a Supreme Court order? The president denied that in an interview published Friday.

A Denial

In an interview with Time Magazine, as part of the Time 100 package, and to mark his 100 days in office, Trump addressed the Garcia situation and denied that the Administration’s actions constitute defiance of the Supreme Court.

“In one case, he defied a Supreme Court order,” the story says, going on to quote Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson that Trump’s actions in the matter “reduce the rule of law to lawlessness and tarnish the very values for which Americans of diverse views and persuasions have always stood.”

“When I first heard of the situation, I was not happy,” Trump said in the interview when he was asked specifically about Garcia and his deportation to El Salvador. “Then I found out that he was a person who was an MS-13 member.” Garcia’s affiliation with that gang has been disputed by his lawyers, who call it an unsupported assertion of an informant, one that has not been proven in a court of law.

The Trump Administration has accused about 200 men of Venezuelan or Salvadoran descent of belonging to gangs and has sought to deport them under the Alien Enemies Act, a seldom-invoked law from the late 18th century that has traditionally applied in wartime, and not since World War II. The Court went on to block the Administration from deporting another group of Venezuelan men.

In the Time interview, Trump went on to state that he had not asked the president of El Salvador, his ally, to return Garcia to the U.S.

“I haven’t been asked to ask him by my attorneys,” Trump told Time.  “Nobody asked me to ask him that question, except you.” He also made it clear that he believes deporting Garcia is good for him politically.

“I think this is another men in women’s sports thing for the Democrats,” the president said.

In the full transcript of the Time interview, Trump flatly denied that he had bucked the court.

“I’m not defying the Supreme Court,” Trump said. “I never defy the Supreme Court. I wouldn’t do that. I’m a big believer in the Supreme Court, and have a lot of respect for the Justices.”

A Key Poll Trump Should Worry About

Trump may consider what he’s doing not “defying” the Supreme Court. But polls have made clear that doing so is an unpopular stance.

According to a Pew Research Center poll released earlier this week, a large majority of Americans, 78 percent, believe that Trump would have to stop an action if a court deemed it illegal, including 91 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of Republicans. That number goes up to 88 percent if the court is the Supreme Court.

CNN polling analyst Harry Enten said this week that a majority of Americans, 58 percent, would back the impeachment of the president if he ignores rulings from the Supreme Court.

About the Author: Stephen Silver

Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.

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