Trump praises Samuel Alito's refusal to recuse himself from Jan 6 Supreme Court cases

Former President Donald Trump praised Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday, for refusing to recuse himself from cases involving the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill.

Alito is facing backlash over an upside down American flag flying outside of his home in Virginia, following the 2020 presidential election. Another flag, called the "Appeal to Heaven" flag, was flown outside of a different house owned by the Alitos. The Supreme Court justice said his wife was responsible for the upside down flag.

Trump celebrated Alito's refusal to recuse himself from the cases in a social media post, which would have given conservative justices on the court a narrower majority. 

"Congratulations to United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for showing the INTELLIGENCE, COURAGE, and 'GUTS' to refuse stepping aside from making a decision on anything January 6th related," Trump posted to Truth Social. "All U.S. Judges, Justices, and Leaders should have such GRIT - Our Country would be far more advanced than its current status as A BADLY FAILING NATION, headed by the Worst President in American History, Crooked Joe Biden!"

Alito said he made his decision to remain on the cases because he had nothing to do with the flying of the flags, and that he and his wife did not know the implication behind either flag. He also claimed that nothing about the incidents merited recusal under the high court's code of conduct.

"My wife and I own our Virginia home jointly," Alito wrote in a letter to Congressional Democrats. "She therefore has the legal right to use the property as she sees fit, and there were no additional steps that I could have taken to have the flag taken down more promptly."

Democrats have claimed that the events create an appearance of impropriety in the Supreme Court, which warrant Alito to recuse himself from any court issues related to the riot or the 2020 election.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just the News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.