Official portrait of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Credit: Fred Schilling / United States Supreme Court
Joe Biden’s DEI Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made a gaffe for the ages while trying to school the Trump Administration’s solicitor general on the history of tariffs.
As TGP readers know, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments today regarding President Trump’s authority to unilaterally impose tariffs on nations that have ripped off America for decades.
Trump has been using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to enact his tariffs, which is the law at issue before the Court.
The Court agreed to fast-track Trump’s tariff case last month. This came weeks after the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected Trump’s authority to impose sweeping tariffs in a 7-4 decision.
U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer immediately faced a skeptical Supreme Court when he tried to argue that Trump had the legal authority to raise these tariffs unilaterally under the IEPPA.
Jackson was predictably aggressive in questioning Sauer and demanded that he give an example of previous president’s unilaterally enacting tariffs.
Nixon imposed a 10% tariff on all imports under the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA), the precursor to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), in an attempt to force other nations to revalue their currencies against the dollar.
The import surcharge was withdrawn four months later, following the Smithsonian agreement, an accord among ten nations to realign and devalue the U.S. dollar against other major currencies.
In a stunning development, Jackson somehow managed to confuse President Richard Nixon with President Abraham Lincoln right after Sauer cited Nixon’s tariffs as an example of emergency power used by a president on the issue.
How does someone make this mistake?
LISTEN:
Kentaji Brown Jackson is embarrassing herself once again in oral arguments:
“President Nixon’s 1971 tariffs…”
“That wasn’t a tariff!…”
“I’m referring to Nixon’s 1971 tariffs”
“Oh I’m sorry I thought you meant Lincoln haha… you’re talking so quickly.” pic.twitter.com/N6dJLw1VIr
— johnny maga (@_johnnymaga) November 5, 2025
LISTEN:
JACKSON: Did any president under TWEA use that language to impose tariffs?
SAUER: Yes, President Nixon’s 1971 tariffs.
JACKSON: That was not a tariff. It was a licensing agreement during wartime.
SAUER: I’m referring to Nixon’s 1971 tariffs.
JACKSON: Oh, excuse me! I thought you meant Lincoln!
SAUER: Not only that, but it was upheld by the court of appeals with exclusive jurisdiction under this very frame.
JACKSON: Back up just a second, you’re talking so quickly.
The post Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Left Humiliated After Making an Epic Gaffe While Trying To School U.S. Solicitor General on Tariff Authority (AUDIO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.