Previously, Sessions referred to Hawaii as “an island in the Pacific,” and Stephanopoulos asked why he would not just call it the state of Hawaii.
“Nobody has a sense of humor anymore,” Sessions said through a smile.
Sessions’ original comment was in response to a federal judge in a federal district court in Hawaii who blocked President Trump’s travel ban in the state.
“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,” Sessions said on Wednesday.
People did not take the belittlement lightly, taking to social media to criticize Sessions and use the opportunity to tweet facts about Hawaii with the hashtag #IslandinthePacific.
In response to the comment and ensuing criticism, the Justice Department issued a statement attempting to clarify Sessions’ comment.
“Hawaii is, in fact, an island in the Pacific – a beautiful one where the attorney general’s granddaughter was born,” Justice Department spokesman Ian D. Prior said in a statement. “The point, however, is that there is a problem when a flawed opinion by a single judge can block the president’s lawful exercise of authority to keep the entire country safe.”
Prior’s statement was also technically inaccurate. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Hawaii is not an island. It is an archipelago of eight major islands. One of said islands is named Hawaii, though Judge Derrick Watson, whom Sessions’ comment was directed at, is not from there. He is from Oahu.
