President Donald Trump remade the Republican Party in his own MAGA image. Will he now do the same to the conservative legal movement?
During his first term, Trump benefited immeasurably from his association with Leonard Leo, the former Federalist Society official whose advice on judicial nominations helped Trump to transform the U.S. Supreme Court into a conservative legal juggernaut that eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, overturned affirmative action in higher education, and expanded the right to keep and bear arms. Such rulings will likely be remembered as Trump's most far-reaching accomplishments as president.
Yet now, Trump is denouncing both the Federalist Society in general and Leo in particular. "I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use the Federalist Society as a recommending source on judges," Trump wrote last week. "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." Trump added: "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!"
