Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sounded the alarm Sunday over what he described as a “concerted effort to intimidate the Court,” speaking out just moments after being asked about President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of several of his fellow Justices.
Alito sat down with Fox News anchor Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday” for a rare interview covering a wide range of topics. During the conversation, Bream raised the president’s recent remarks about the Justices, which followed an interview with TIME published Thursday. In that interview, Trump was asked whether he regretted appointing Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch.
“Yeah,” Trump said. “What can I do? I put them in. They voted against me too often. I was very—I gave them the position of a lifetime, and they vote against me often. They vote for me too.”
The president then turned to the Court’s liberal Justices, saying, “The Democrats stick like glue—those three, they virtually never vary. You can come up with the worst thing in the world and they’ll vote as a group. And while I don’t like it, there’s something I admire about it: there’s loyalty.”
Trump said those Justices have loyalty to former President Barack Hussein Obama and to former President Joe Biden, “even though Biden doesn’t even know who the hell they are.” He added, “And me, I gave them the chance of a lifetime, and it’s unfortunate what they did.”
Bream noted that the president’s comments had drawn significant attention this week.
“Now, he seems to be a big fan of yours. He thinks that you generally get things right,” Bream told Alito. “There are other times that some of the people he’s calling out now, he has had great affection and compliment for them as well.”
She then asked whether public figures’ statements about the Court were a concern, or whether the Justices were insulated enough that such comments did not affect their internal deliberations.
“I put all of that out of my mind,” Alito replied. “I trust that my colleagues put all that out of their minds. But I am concerned about the escalation in public rhetoric in general and about the things that people in important positions say about the Supreme Court as a whole and about individual justices. I’m concerned about the long-term effect of that on the standing of the Court.”
Alito did not respond directly to Trump’s remarks, nor did he specifically reference attacks from the Left on the Court’s legitimacy. Speaking broadly, however, the Justice condemned such rhetoric and made clear he believes these attacks can do serious damage to the institution.
“There has been a concerted effort to intimidate the court and justices on the court, to try to influence us to decide cases differently from the way in which we have been deciding them,” Alito said.
“And I am concerned about the future of the court,” he continued. “I think it’s an important institution. It has not always done the right thing, but I think on the whole it has been fundamental in protecting our Constitutional structure and the rights that all Americans enjoy.”
The 76-year-old Justice was also asked about speculation that he could soon retire, though he offered few clues about his plans.
“I’m grateful for every day when I wake up, and I’m still here, and grateful for every day when I’ll wake up and I am still able to do the job,” Alito said. “I think it would be foolhardy to, you know, make a calculation I’m going to serve for a certain number of additional years.”
