Reagan-Era Judge Calls Trump ‘Authoritarian’ As He Prepares To Block Deportations

A Reagan-appointed federal judge called President Donald Trump an “authoritarian” during a hearing on Thursday.

U.S. District Judge William Young, who is overseeing a case challenging the administration’s attempts to deport pro-Palestine protesters on college campuses, indicated he would issue a ruling restricting the government’s efforts, according to Reuters.

The administration’s efforts came in response to at times violent protests that erupted on college campuses after Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which left over 1,200 people dead.

“We cast around the word ‘authoritarian,’” Young said, per Reuters. “I don’t, in this context, treat that in a pejorative sense, and I use it carefully, but it’s fairly clear that this president believes, as an authoritarian, that when he speaks, everyone, everyone in Article II is going to toe the line absolutely.”

“It’s bizarre that this judge is broadcasting his intent to engage in left-wing activism against the democratically-elected President of the United States,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement to the 🏢Daily Caller News Foundation. “President Trump will always put American citizens first, which includes removing national security threats from our homeland.”

Young said Trump’s cabinet secretaries “have failed in their sworn duty to uphold the Constitution.”