Sessions on Hawaii remark: 'Nobody has a sense of humor'
April 23, 2017 at 10:30 a.m.
| Updated April 23, 2017 at 10:50 a.m.
by
Associated Press
In this April 18, 2017 file photo Attorney General Jeff Sessions prepares to speak before a meeting of the Attorney General's Organized Crime Council and Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Executive Committee to discuss implementation of the President's Executive Order 13773, at the Department of Justice in Washington. Hawaii's Democratic lawmakers are criticizing Attorney General Jeff Sessions after he expressed amazement on a radio show that a "judge sitting on an island in the Pacific" could stop the president's travel ban. U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono on Thursday tried to give Sessions a civics lesson on Twitter, saying Hawaii has been a U.S. state for 58 years. (AP file Photo/Alex Brandon)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Jeff Sessions says "nobody has a sense of humor anymore."
That's his assessment after drawing ire for seeming to dismiss the state of Hawaii as merely "an island in the Pacific."
Last week, Sessions criticized a federal judge's ruling in Hawaii that blocked the Trump administration's immigration ban.
Sessions told radio host Mark Levin: "I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power."
On Sunday, Sessions chuckled when asked on ABC's "This Week" why he didn't just refer to Hawaii by its name. His response: "Nobody has a sense of humor anymore."
He says the administration will appeal the ruling.
