Trump attorney makes bold claim after legal blow—but gets 1 basic fact wrong

Alina Habba got one critical fact wrong on Thursday after criticizing a court ruling against her in connection to her tumultuous journey to become the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.

Pennsylvania Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew W. Brann ruled that Habba has been unlawfully serving as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey since July 1. Habba railed against the ruling during a Fox News appearance on Thursday night, suggesting that “rogue judges” are trying to hurt President Donald Trump’s agenda.

“I am the pick of the President. I am the pick of Pam Bondi, our Attorney General, and I will serve this country like I have for the last several years, in any capacity,” Habba said.

She then suggested that judges’ jobs should be “respecting the president,” before falsely claiming that Trump received nearly 100 million votes in the 2024 election.

“But it’s disturbing what we’re seeing. It’s not surprising, but it’s disturbing. They think they have a voice for five minutes. They try and be activists. And Pam Bondi called it like it is. The Attorney General said it today, ‘We will not fall to rogue judges,’” Habba said.

“We will not fall to people trying to be political when they should just be doing their job, respecting the president. And you can’t get rid of the president. Almost 100 million people voted for him, and he is still and will be forever, the 45th and 47th president of the United States,” she added.

Social media users quickly noted that Trump received about 77 million votes in the 2024 election. In contrast, then-Vice President Kamala Harris received about 75 million votes.

Habba garnered national attention as Trump’s personal attorney and legal spokesperson. Trump formally nominated her in March to serve as U.S. attorney for New Jersey — a position requiring Senate confirmation.

However, her nomination was stalled and led the administration to appoint her to through a series of interim and acting appointments. Just hours before her interim term was set to expire July 22, a panel of federal judges declined to extend her appointment and instead named Desiree Grace, the office’s first assistant, as interim U.S. attorney.

This led to a showdown with the Trump administration, which fired Grace and reinstalled Habba, citing a legal workaround under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

The federal court on Thursday found that Habba’s appointment violated federal law governing temporary appointments to Senate-confirmed positions.

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