House

GOP rep: Trump justice system ‘laughing stock’ comment ‘not well placed’

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Wednesday that President Trump’s remark about the American justice system being “a laughing stock” was “not well placed.”

During a television interview with CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” McCaul noted that the United States justice system has thwarted attacks in the past.

{mosads}“But to have a wholesale indictment of our criminal justice system, I don’t think — I think that’s not well placed. I think we do operate under the Constitution,” McCaul said.

“Again, the question is whether, you know, the vetting to let these people in he United States in the first place. And once we’re here, we have due process.”

The remark from McCaul comes after Trump during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday criticized the justice system in light of the truck attack that left eight people dead in lower Manhattan.

“We need quick justice and we need strong justice — much quicker and much stronger than we have right now,” Trump said. “Because what we have right now is a joke and it’s a laughingstock. And no wonder so much of this stuff takes place.”

McCaul during the appearance added that he believes terrorists captured on the battlefield should be sent to the military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The suspect in the Tuesday attack, 29-year-old Sayfullo Saipov, is charged with providing material support to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.