Former President Donald Trump’s recent legal battles have resulted in significant setbacks, with a Stanford political science professor finding that Trump has lost 96% of his cases this month. Even with Republican-appointed judges, the loss rate stands at 72%.
According to MSNBC, the mounting legal defeats have sparked controversial responses from Trump’s allies, including Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who suggested a conspiracy against Trump within the justice system. Trump himself has gone further, labeling judges who rule against him as “monsters” and “lunatics” who are working against American interests.
About a month after Trump’s second inaugural, Elon Musk appeared on Fox News arguing that “If the will of the president is not implemented and the president is representative of the people, that means the will of the people is not being implemented, and that means we don’t live in a democracy.”
Vice president raises concerns about courts overturning ‘will of the people’
Vice President JD Vance, in a recent interview with The New York Times’ Ross Douthat, expressed similar sentiments, describing a “real conflict” between judicial interpretation and democratic principles. Vance claimed that courts are making “an effort to quite literally overturn the will of the American people.”
This argument suggests that since Trump won a democratic election, challenging his actions through the courts somehow defies democracy itself. However, this interpretation contradicts the fundamental principles of the American political system, which is designed with checks and balances.
Legal experts point out that it is not the judiciary’s role to defer to another branch of government based on election results. The courts are tasked with evaluating legal disputes on their merits, regardless of electoral outcomes.
New York magazine’s Ed Kilgore has criticized this perspective, noting that the repeated suggestion that judges should bend the law to accommodate Trump because he represents the “Popular Will” is particularly concerning, especially given that Trump did not receive a majority of votes in the election. Kilgore argues that this narrative strengthens authoritarian tendencies among the president’s supporters and advisers.
Published: May 28, 2025 03:10 pm