Jeff Sessions' racist attack on a Hawaiian judge in "an island in the Pacific" backfires

Speaking on a right-wing radio show, the former senator from Alabama was complaining about the string of losses that Donald Trump has racked up in court over his ban on Muslim travel to the United States when he uttered this unbelievable statement about U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson of Hawaii:

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.

Democrats from Hawaii blasted Sessions for his smear on their home state.

Senator Mazie Hirono tweeted, “Hey Jeff Sessions, this #IslandinthePacific has been the 50th state for going on 58 years. And we won’t succumb to your dog whistle politics,” adding, “Hawaii was built on the strength of diversity & immigrant experiences- including my own. Jeff Sessions’ comments are ignorant & dangerous.”

Hey Jeff Sessions, this #IslandinthePacific has been the 50th state for going on 58 years. And we won’t succumb to your dog whistle politics

— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 20, 2017

Hawaii was built on the strength of diversity & immigrant experiences- including my own. Jeff Sessions’ comments are ignorant & dangerous

— Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) April 20, 2017

Senator Brian Schatz also took issue with Sessions, writing, “Mr. Attorney General: You voted for that judge. And that island is called Oahu. It’s my home. Have some respect.”

Mr. Attorney General: You voted for that judge. And that island is called Oahu. It's my home. Have some respect. https://t.co/sW9z3vqBqG

— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) April 20, 2017

The judge issued a ruling in March that slammed the “illogic” of the Trump administration’s travel ban, citing television interviews in which Trump smeared the Islamic faith as an example of the “religious animus” behind the ban. The judge received received threats after Trump complained about the ruling.

Sessions’ past is littered by a trail of racist remarks. Those comments, including an allegation that he called a black assistant attorney general a “boy,” prevented him from attaining a federal judgeship in 1986. During the Senate confirmation process to appoint Sessions attorney general, Republicans ignored the evidence of Sessions’ racism, and voted to approve him.

Hawaii is the 50th state in the union, home to 1.4 million Americans, and the site of the deadliest attack on American soil before 9/11, the bombing of Pearl Harbor where 2,403 people died.

Sessions might do well to brush up on his American geography.