Trump lashes out at Leonard Leo, legal activist who helped him pick Supreme Court justices: "Probably hates America"

[Tactical Peek]

Source: CBS News

Court justices: "Probably hates America"

By Joe Walsh

Updated on: May 29, 2025 / 11:44 PM EDT / CBS News

President Trump attacked the powerful conservative legal activist Leonard Leo late Thursday, calling the former Federalist Society leader who once advised the president on Supreme Court picks a "bad person" who "probably hates America."

Mr. Trump lashed out at Leo a day after a panel of judges — including a Trump appointee — called most of his tariffs illegal. The ruling, which was paused by an appellate court, put Mr. Trump at odds with some conservative lawyers: Two of the three judges who decided the case were appointed by Republicans, and the decision came in response to a lawsuit that cited right-leaning legal theories.

The president attacked the three judges behind that ruling in a Truth Social post late Thursday, calling it a "horrible, Country threatening decision" and suggesting it was made because the judges hate him. He then turned his attention to Leo and the Federalist Society, two longstanding pillars of the conservative legal movement widely credited with helping Mr. Trump pick hundreds of federal judges — some of whom have ruled against his administration.

"I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges," Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social late Thursday. "I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real "sleazebag" named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions."



Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-leonard-leo-probably-hates-america/

[SunSeeker]

1. Leonard Leo hates tariffs. To Trump, that makes Leo a "sleazebag" who "probably hates America."

He right about Leo, but it isn't because Leo hates tariffs.

[thesquanderer]

24. It's one of Trump's "broken clock" days, even if he's right for the wrong reasons. (n/t)

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Trump attacking Leo and the Federalist Society makes me smile

The judges selected by the Federalist Society tend to be conservative assholes but these assholes believe in due process and the rule of law

[Karasu]

4. Well...at least to an extent they do, anyhow.

[thought crime]

31. Judge Aileen Cannon comes to mind

[Mopar151]

5. There are things that a rat won't do!

Self preservation is a priority, and Trump's in the fearless and foolish / beyond help lane!

[Skittles]

8. yup

they can only bend back over so far before they topple

[Karasu]

3. Wow. For once, he actually managed to stupidly attack someone who is arguably even fucking worse than he is.

If there was any room for doubt that he's now completely losing his fucking shit, it's all gone now.

And if we seriously live in an age where Leonard fucking Leo isn't fascistic enough for the current administration, well...there is NOWHERE left to go from there.

[Skittles]

9. oh NEVER say there's nowhere for these fascist fucks to go

they ALWAYS find a way to sink lower

[Karasu]

11. Fair point, that.

[Mike 03]

12. Yes, I have to tell you this is the strangest headline to wake up to that I've

ever seen on DU. Trump just spouts off. He has no fucking clue what he's said here.

[thesquanderer]

25. Yeah, crazy headline that almost needs a "not The Onion" disclaimer. (n/t)

[JoseBalow]

6. A petulant frenzy! This is a petulant Frenzy!

He's petulant, and he's having a frenzy!

[Mawspam2]

7. Leo, (not the Pope), should call for the 25th amendment...

...be used to remove Orange Clown Crazypants for impersonating a President.

[Skittles]

10. "...... hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions."

EVERYTHING that orange fascist trash says is PURE PROJECTION.

[Cloudhopper]

13. I don't know who hates America more...

DJT or the 9/11 terrorists, actually.

[no_hypocrisy]

14. IMO, Trump picked the wrong fight.

Potentially, this attack will splinter the Republicans into a Federalist faction and a MAGA faction.

[Deminpenn]

18. Agree with this point

IIRC, a Leo-backed group currently has a lawsuit going against something Trump did. Given the number of Leo selected judges who are now on the federal bench and on SCOTUS, this suit is more likely than not to prevail, imho.

[Prairie Gates]

21. It will certainly be another jab in the eye of the free trade conservatives

The fundamental conflict here is between conservative economic dogma (Friedman, Chicago School, free trade, globalism) and MAGA fascist autarky. Conservatives have essentially promoted the first as a fundamental truth for the last 50 years. Now they are all asked to pivot on a dime to its fundamental opposite: high tariff, autarky, nationalist economics. This is literally the Stalinist moment of capitalism, when all the capitalists at once are required to switch from one fundamental philosophy to the next, as Stalin required of the Russian communists from time to time.

[FakeNoose]

30. I think it might piss off the libertarians also

Not that Leo is a libertarian, but the things he espouses tend to be up their alley.

[mpcamb]

15. Governing by chaos. Put a bunch of rats in a box. Shake it like hell. They start biting each other's asses-

Not a good way to govern for 4 years.
Only good point is rats get their asses bitten.

[Scrivener7]

16. This is interesting. He's ditching all his followers.

Leonard Leo is not just a Federalist Society creeper, he's also an Opus Dei creeper, and Opus Dei has a lot of clout behind the scenes in republiQan circles.

So...

[wolfie001]

17. The greatest takeaway is how the irreligious tRUMP has used these christo-fascist sleazebags to further his agenda

As imbecilic as tRUMP is, you have to give him credit: he played this vast group of scummy, hateful people like a maestro violinist. He knew every note and tone they were yearning to hear. I mean, the bloated fraudster isn't even religious. F6cking hilarious.

[tanyev]

19. Horrible person who daily threatens American businesses, officials and citizens

accuses another horrible person of hating America. That’s rich.

[Prairie Gates]

20. Trump's economic ideas are a mix of 19th century (18th, even!) nonsense and Hitlerian fascism

Last edited Fri May 30, 2025, 09:08 AM - Edit history (1)

Conservative economics a la Leo and the Federalist Society is disastrous in its own way, but Trump's economic plans are incoherent idiocy. That he's captured a segment of the conservative movement that has spent the last 50 years treating Milton Friedman as a prophet just tells you how weak the grasp of sophisticated economic theory is on the right. Most MAGAs (they are clearly not conservatives) understand conservative economic theory as a series of slogans that are easily malleable. They have no grasp on fundamentals - and I mean high school level stuff. This is the result. Trump is an autarkist. Milton Friedman would have laughed him out of the room.

[travelingthrulife]

28. Plus the opinion of the last random person he talked to.

[FakeNoose]

32. The unwashed MAGA hordes don't care about any of this

... as long Chump keeps up with his racist and sexist dog whistles, that's what matters to them. Leonard Leo's power is the influence he has with ultra-wealthy GOP donors who tend to cloak their racism in economic terms, just as you've laid out here. Well done!

Chump must be thinking that he doesn't need Leo as long as he has the MAGAs. Or maybe he's wondering how long it will take for Leo to come groveling back.

[mopinko]

22. gives me hope. the infighting has begun.

if there is a way out of this b4 2028, it’s that these rats will turn on each other.

[NJCher]

36. it was inevitable

too bad we couldn't have fast forwarded through it.

[Dulcinea]

37. Let the circular firing squad begin!

[BootinUp]

23. This town ain't big enough!

[sop]

26. Trump has also stopped relying on the ABA to vet his judicial nominees.

'Justice Department curtails ABA role in vetting Trump's judicial nominees'

"The announcement came a day after Trump announced six new judicial nominees including Emil Bove, a Justice Department official who previously served as his criminal defense lawyer in the New York trial in which the president was convicted of criminal charges over hush money paid to a porn star...The first of Trump's 11 announced judicial nominees of his second term are slated to appear before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on June 4."

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/justice-department-curtails-aba-role-vetting-trumps-judicial-nominees-2025-05-29/

[travelingthrulife]

27. Excellent! The radical right wealthy are going to be forced to take him down.

Keep going, Donald!

[Mz Pip]

29. Trump isn't a conservative

That’s the problem. He wants government control of everything. That’s more in line with Communism than conservatism.

[thought crime]

33. Trump wanted all the Judges he appointed to be fiercely loyal to him.

And he can't even fire them.

[question everything]

34. L'tat, c'est moi

L'État, c'est moi (English: "I am the state", lit. 'the state, it is me') is an apocryphal saying attributed to Louis XIV, King of France and Navarre. It was allegedly said on 13 April 1655 before the Parlement of Paris.[1] It is supposed to assert the primacy of the royal authority in a context of defiance with the Parliament, which contests royal edicts taken in lit de justice on 20 March 1655.[2] The phrase symbolizes absolute monarchy and absolutism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27%C3%89tat,_c%27est_moi

[PerceptionManagement]

35. Clearly Leonard Leo "hates America" but for different reasons that Taco Dump imagines.

[Deep State Witch]

38. Leonard Leo

Leonard Leo will now be known as Leonard Leopards Ate My Face.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

39. Maddow Blog-Why the White House decided even the conservative Federalist Society isn't good enough

The Federalist Society has long been seen as one of the most successful projects of the conservative movement. Team Trump no longer seems to care.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/white-house-decided-even-conservative-federalist-society-isnt-good-eno-rcna210026

But one nagging detail got in the way: One of the judges that ruled against the White House was appointed by Trump and confirmed by Senate Republicans. The political problem was obvious.

And so, as Politico reported, the president has opened up a new line of attack.

President Donald Trump leveled unusually pointed criticism of a prominent conservative legal activist and organization Thursday as he railed against a ruling that struck down his sweeping tariffs. The president, in a post on his social media platform, slammed Leonard Leo, the former chair of the Federalist Society, calling him a ‘sleazebag’ who ‘probably hates America.’

As part of an odd and meandering online rant, the Republican wrote, “I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations. This is something that cannot be forgotten!”

For those unfamiliar with the Federalist Society, it is a conservative organization that has long been seen as one of the most successful projects of the conservative movement. Indeed, throughout Trump’s first term, the group was a key part of a brutally efficient assembly-line process: The Federalist Society would vet and recommend far-right ideologues for the federal bench; the White House would use the organization’s lists for judicial nominations; Senate Republicans would rubber-stamp the president’s choices; and Americans would watch the judiciary lurch to the right to a degree unseen in generations......

In fact, a year before Election Day 2024, The New York Times reported that Team Trump had begun looking at Federalist Society members as “squishes.” The article quoted Russell Vought, 15 months before he’d begin his latest tenure as the director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, saying, “The Federalist Society doesn’t know what time it is.”

That was in late 2023. Now, midway through 2025, as several Trump-appointed federal judges rule in ways the president does not like, he won’t blame himself, and he’s won't blame Senate Republicans for confirming his picks — but he can blame the Federalist Society for recommending jurists who sometimes see themselves as neutral arbiters of a separate and coequal branch of government.

That’s precisely why Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff, appeared on CNN the morning after Trump’s online rant and accused the Federalist Society of creating “a broken system.” He added, “We’re not going to be using the Federalist Society to make judicial nominations at all going forward.”

As for what Team Trump might replace it with, watch this space

The Federalist Society judges are ultraconservative assholes but they follow the law. trump wants idiots who will worship him and not the law

[EndlessWire]

40. Interesting stuff.

Rumpy is peeling back anyone who threatens him. He probably feels that he doesn't need the guy anymore. He does have a history of turning on people who have helped him. I'll bet he's afraid of him. But, since he's gleaned millions of dollars off the People, he doesn't need him so much. Cue the name calling. Oh, yeah, he's already there. Maybe this helps us?