John Bolton, a former national security adviser who served under Donald Trump, said the former president was “chickening out” for skipping Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court arguments about whether or not he will get to stay on Colorado’s 2024 Republican primary ballot.
While his lawyers will attend the high court for arguments Thursday, Trump will be at Mar-a-Lago in Florida before making his way to a campaign event in Nevada, CNN reported. A source close to the former president’s legal team said “there was no upside to him attending these arguments,” but that he understands the serious implications this decision could have.
“It’s not just some district judge somewhere, some state court judge in New York, this is the Supreme Court,” Bolton told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday. “This is the third branch of the government sitting in front of him, three of whose members he appointed, and I think he thinks maybe a little overawed by that. I think he’s chickening out here.”
Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court to help establish a conservative majority; however, Bolton said his hand in shaping the court won’t guarantee anything for him on Thursday.
“I think those who think that his appointees will just do what he wants and are afraid … I don’t think they know really the kinds of justices he appointed,” Bolton said. “I think he’s going to be disappointed in them.”
Bolton has become a major critic of his former boss since departing the administration, telling an MSNBC host last week that Trump is “fundamentally ignorant” regarding comments he made about national security and NATO.
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He added that former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley should stay in the race despite her recent loss in Nevada’s primary on Tuesday and Trump leading by 30 points in South Carolina, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average.
“I hope she would stay in until the convention and carry the banner for anybody who doesn’t want Trump,” Bolton said.
