Rep. Keith Ellison (D., Minn.) exploded over the Supreme Court upholding the Trump administration's travel ban on Tuesday against several Muslim-majority countries, in addition to Venezuela and North Korea.
Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, compared the news to the infamous "Dred Scott" decision of 1857 and slammed Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, who was appointed by President Donald Trump last year, for giving in to his "paymasters." Liberals are still furious over Gorsuch's appointment last year. The seat was open after Republicans didn't give a hearing in 2016 to Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama's pick to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia.
Ellison, speaking over the phone, sounded furious about the ban's upholding as he spoke with CNN's Kate Bolduan.
"It just proves one thing," Ellison said. "If you steal and rip off a Supreme Court justice [seat], then you can try to jam any kind of nasty, racist, ugly policy you can down the throats of the American people ... That's what I feel."
"You are really upset about this," Bolduan said.
"Our country has gone through some ugly days," Ellison said, pointing to Supreme Court decisions like Dred Scott and Plessy vs. Ferguson. He said this latest decision would also end up in the "dust bin of history," saying, "Discrimination and racism and hatred and religious bigotry is never going to be winning in the end."
The upholding of the third iteration of Trump's travel ban was supported by the Supreme Court's more conservative wing: John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Anthony Kennedy and Gorsuch. The four more liberal members all voted against upholding it.
Responding to Trump claiming vindication over the ruling, Ellison said a "gloating braggart is not going to win at the end of the day" before launching an attack on Gorsuch's integrity.
"Gorsuch really should not be on the Supreme Court," he said. "He may be there, but he's not there properly. You know, you can do that. You can jam in a Supreme Court by denying a sitting president their right to appoint the Supreme Court justice. That is exactly what happened, and Gorsuch has just done what his paymasters sent him there to do. It's a shame."
Ellison, who is deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee, is running for Minnesota Attorney General. He has been forced to defend himself against critics of his past meetings with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who is known for his outlandish conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism.