Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Friday that he has lost seven pounds because his liberal friends have stopped inviting him to dinner parties for defending President Donald Trump against Democrats calling for him to be charged with obstruction of justice.
"Fox and Friends" co-host Ainsley Earhardt asked Dershowitz, a lifelong liberal who has donated thousands of dollars to Democrats, about liberals shunning him, noting that he usually agrees with liberals when he appears on the show.
"Well, I call it the Donald Trump diet," Dershowitz said with a smile. "I've lost seven pounds because my liberal friends have stopped inviting me to dinner parties. After four years, I'll be back to my high school weight."
He added that many liberals do not want to understand his view and immediately accuse him of being on Trump's side.
"I'm on nobody's side. I'm on the side of the rule of law, the Constitution, and the Constitution is clear [that if] a president exercises his constitutional authority by firing somebody or by pardoning somebody, that cannot be the basis for obstruction of justice," Dershowitz said. "If he goes further and lies or tells his people to destroy evidence, of course that's different. That's how [Richard] Nixon and [Bill] Clinton got in trouble, but President [Trump] cannot be charged with obstruction for simply exercising his Article 2 power under the Constitution."
"And that's the point of view you expressed on this program a couple of days ago," co-host Steve Doocy added. "And then the president of the United States retweeted, 'Hey you should watch Alan Dershowitz on Fox and Friends make that case,' but then your liberal friends, their heads started exploding, and I understand somebody even suggested that you're being paid off by the Trump people."
Dershowitz mocked the idea that he is being paid off or that he wants to become a Supreme Court justice at the age of 79. He then mentioned that he also is being attacked for his article supporting Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"I'm being criticized for that by people because that's what Trump said, and if Trump said it, that means Dershowitz can't say it because that means Dershowitz is on Trump's side," Dershowitz said. "I'm on the side of justice and fairness."