Hawaii’s Democratic senators on Thursday quickly went after Attorney General Jeff Sessions for questioning how a federal judge from the Aloha State, which he instead referred to as “an island in the Pacific,” was able to block the Trump administration’s travel ban.
“Hey Jeff Sessions, this #IslandinthePacific has been the 50th state for going on 58 years. And we won’t succumb to your dog whistle politics,” Sen. Mazie Hirono wrote on Twitter, adding that the attorney general’s remarks were “ignorant & dangerous.”
Hey Jeff Sessions, this #IslandinthePacific has been the 50th state for going on 58 years. And we won’t succumb to your dog whistle politics
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 20, 2017
Hawaii was built on the strength of diversity & immigrant experiences- including my own. Jeff Sessions’ comments are ignorant & dangerous
— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 20, 2017
Sen. Brian Schatz also chimed in, urging Sessions to “have some respect” for his home state.
Mr. Attorney General: You voted for that judge. And that island is called Oahu. It's my home. Have some respect. https://t.co/sW9z3vqBqG
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) April 20, 2017
The attorney general made waves by telling conservative radio host Mark Levin on Wednesday that he was “amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the President of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and Constitutional power.”
U.S. District Court Judge Derrick Watson was one of several federal officials who moved in March to block President Donald Trump’s revised executive order barring refugees and immigrants from six majority-Muslim countries.
As Schatz pointed out, Watson was confirmed unanimously by the Senate in 2013, when Sessions was still a Republican senator from Alabama.
