Senate backs Trump judicial pick who disparaged Obama
WASHINGTON — The Senate has confirmed a new federal judge in Eastern Texas, despite comments he made disparaging former President Barack Obama.
Lawyer Michael Truncale was confirmed, 49-46, on Tuesday. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney was the only Republican to vote against President Donald Trump’s nominee.
Romney said in a statement that his “no” vote was not a matter of qualifications or politics, but because of Truncale’s 2011 comments in which he called Obama an “un-American imposter.”
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Romney, who lost to Obama in the 2012 presidential race, called the comments “particularly disparaging” and said that “as the (former) Republican nominee for president, I just couldn’t subscribe to that in a federal judge.”
Truncale told the Senate Judiciary Committee he was “merely expressing frustration” at what he perceived as Obama’s lack of overt patriotism.
The Associated Press
