President Donald Trump was "wrong" to personally criticize Supreme Court justices following the high court's ruling against his tariffs, former Rep. Pete King told Newsmax on Sunday.
"Quite frankly, I thought the president was wrong in personally attacking people like [Justices] Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, and Chief Justice Roberts," the New York Republican said on Newsmax's "Wake Up America Weekend."
"It should be resolved as a legal matter, not personally attacking well-intentioned judges like Barrett, Gorsuch, and the chief judge, John Roberts," King said.
He added that he agrees with the "thrust of that decision" that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA, does not authorize a president to impose sweeping tariffs.
"This is a real law school question, to be honest with you. I think that the majority opinion was correct, but I thought Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh's dissent was very powerful," said King.
Turning to the tariff issue, King said Trump's move to raise tariffs to 15% appears lawful for a limited period.
"Well, as far as the 15% that appears to be within the law, he can do that for up to 150 days. That may be challenged. But on the face of it, I would say that he's entirely within his rights in doing that," King said.
King said the political fallout could make the State of the Union address to Congress uneasy.
"So it's going to be awkward, I guess, at the State of the Union. I think somehow Donald Trump always makes these things work to his benefit," King said.
Meanwhile, former Rep. Jack Kingston said consumers and small businesses could be hit by uncertainty and predicted more court action, including over possible tariff refunds.
"I think there's going to be lawsuit after lawsuit about the refund. And that was one of [Justice] Clarence Thomas' points, that you've put some economic stress and turmoil and uncertainty in the economy, an economy which is, you know, has been doing very well," Kingston said.
Kingston added that the economy had been strengthening before the ruling.
"Wages are going up, energy prices are going down," he said. "Foreign investment is at an all-time high. Business regulations are going down, and they're being more productive.
"The president just threw out the 2019 Endangerment Act of [former President Barack] Obama's. The economy is on its way to roaring, and now the Supreme Court dumps this on us."
Kingston noted the decision still leaves Trump with other legal paths to impose tariffs.
"The president still has the right to increase tariffs under Section 232 for national security reasons and Section 301 because of unfair trade practices," he said.
"So they still left the president with lots of tools in terms of revenue raising, if that's what they were trying to abolish."
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