Stephen Miller to CNN’s Brown: ‘When You Have These Kinds of Lazy Assumptions Built into Questions, It Makes It Hard to Have a Constructive Dialogue’

BROWN: “Do you think a judge should just rubber stamp what your White House does? If not, what checks and balances do you think should be in place for this White House?”
MILLER: “It’s not the job of a district court judge to perform an individual green light or red light on every single policy that the president takes as the head of the executive Branch. Just think about the premise baked into your question. Respectfully, Pam, you’re saying that when the American people elect a president of the United States of America —
BROWN: “I’m not saying that.”
MILLER: “— the — the — well, it’s the implication —“
BROWN: “No, it’s not. I just said what check and balances do you think should be in place.” [crosstalk]
MILLER: “— who is the sole head of the executive Branch — let me — let me finish. Let me finish. I will answer the question happily. But look, when you have these kinds of lazy assumptions built into questions, it makes it hard to have a constructive dialogue.”
BROWN: “What is a lazy assumption?”
MILLER: “What I am saying —“
BROWN: “I said you all had a win. You said judges had ruled against this White House.” [crosstalk]
MILLER: “You said no. You said — you said is it my expectation?”
BROWN: “I am speaking because —“ [crosstalk]
MILLER: “You said, is it my expectation — it’s not just you, it’s the whole media. In other words, when you hear a sentence like —“ [crosstalk]
BROWN: “It is a completely fair question.”
MILLER: “No, no, no.”
BROWN: “You say judges rule against the White House —“ [crosstalk]
MILLER: “And I will gladly answer it.”
BROWN: “Go ahead.”
MILLER: “When you say, do we think district court judges should rubber stamp each action? There is a premise that is built into that that is absurd. The president is the sole head of the executive Branch. He’s the only officer in the entire government that’s elected by the entire American people. Democracy cannot function. In fact, democracy does not exist at all. If each action the president takes, foreign policy, diplomatic, military, national security, has to be individually approved by 700 district court judges, that’s democracy? So if there’s 15 communist, crazy judges on the court, that each of them as a team working together can block and freeze each and every executive action.”