SUPREME COURT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “They have called it a ‘childish spectacle,’ a ‘political pep rally’ at which they feel ‘very awkward’ and ‘very uncomfortable.’ One of them fell asleep because she ‘wasn’t 100 percent sober.’ Among the issues that deeply divide the Supreme Court – and there are many – one of the most personal is whether to take their reserved front-row seats for the president’s annual State of the Union address. Four of nine justices attended President Trump’s delayed address Tuesday night, led as usual by Chief Justice John Roberts, who has lamented the partisan nature of the event. That would be the same number as last year. Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush had similar difficulties attracting justices for much of their tenures in office. President Bill Clinton’s 2000 address, coming a year after his Senate impeachment trial, was the last to strike out completely; the entire Supreme Court stayed away.”
–Richard Wolf, “Only four of nine Supreme Court justices attend Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address,” USA Today, February 5, 2019 9:47 pm