Trump Defends Coney Barrett Amid Backlash on the Right

Amy Coney Barrett may be an unpopular figure in MAGA world these days, but President Trump himself is not joining the critics. "She's a very good woman," Trump told reporters Sunday when asked about the Supreme Court justice. "She's very smart, and I don't know about people attacking her, I really don't know," he said. "I think she's a very good woman. She's very smart." As the Hill notes, Barrett angered Trump supporters when she joined the court's 5-4 majority in rejecting the president's ability to freeze about $2 billion in foreign aid. Chief Justice John Roberts also sided with the court's three liberals in the ruling.

The backlash was swift and nasty, notes CNN, which details the criticism—including a comment deriding her as a "DEI hire." Prominent conservative law professor Josh Blackman even called for her to resign in a post at Reason. In an analysis at the New Republic, Matt Ford makes clear that Barrett remains a "reliably conservative vote" on major cases before the court. "But her willingness to take her fellow conservatives to task for their sloppiness and their shortcuts may be just as influential over the next four years." (More Amy Coney Barrett stories.)