U.S. Magistrate Judge John Primono has sparked a fury among the amnesty, civil rights and illegal immigrant crowds after he told the 500 or so he was naturalizing that Donald Trump was the duly elected president – and they should accept that, or leave America.
And now, Primono’s been stripped of his naturalization duties by the federal judges in charge of appointing the magistrates, local news media report.
This is what Primono said, as reported by KENS-TV in San Antonio, the city where the ceremony was held:
“I can assure you that whether you voted for him or you did not vote for him,” Primono said, the news outlet reported, “if you are a citizen of the United States, he is your president. He will be your president, and if you do not like that, you need to go to another country.”
His remarks came against a backdrop of protesters who stood outside the ceremony offices and carried signs that read, “He’s not my president.”
Primono, who’s the son of German and Italian immigrants, said he could neither fathom nor stomach the actions of those who’ve been protesting Trump’s election – or of professional athletes, for that matter, who take knees during the playing of the national anthem.
But he also said his remarks to the crowd of newly naturalized weren’t intended to be divisive.
And here’s the kicker: Primono didn’t even vote for Trump, Fox News reported.
“I wasn’t trying to say anything for or against Donald Trump,” he said to the San Antonio Express-News. “I was just trying to say something hopeful and unifying, and unfortunately it was taken out of context.”
As expected, the liberal leftists are howling, calling Primono out for so-called bigoted comments.
The Express-News reported: “The federal courthouse, meanwhile, has received dozens of calls and emails, some of them profane, from people upset with his comments, including some Texas Democratic officeholders. No one, however, has filed a formal complaint.”
Primono’s facing punishment, anyway.
U.S. district judges at the federal courthouse in San Antonio who are in charge of appointing the magistrates to naturalization ceremonies said they’ve removed Primono from the list of go-to judges, and he’ll no longer be allowed to perform those duties.
“[We’re] determined that he will no longer be handling citizenship ceremonies,” the judges said in a joint statement.
