“I wouldn’t protect him. He would be on his own if it was down to me,” former President Donald Trump said about British Prince Harry in an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Saturday.
The Duke of Sussex has been in hot water over his visa to stay in the United States and alleged illegal drug use.
“He betrayed the Queen. That’s unforgivable,” Trump said, according to Express.
The British prince married an American woman, Meghan Markle, and moved from the U.K. to California in 2020. He and his wife have been vocal critics of the royal family.
A District of Columbia federal court heard Prince Harry’s case on Friday.
Last March, The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project submitted a request under the Freedom of Information Act to the Department of Homeland Security related to revelations in Harry’s book “Spare” that he used cocaine, marijuana, mushrooms, and other psychedelic drugs. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)
“This request is in the public interest in light of the potential revocation of Prince Harry’s visa for illicit substance use and further questions regarding the prince’s drug use and whether he was properly vetted before entering the United States,” Mike Howell, director of Heritage’s Oversight Project, said in his FOIA request.
Visas are typically denied to foreign nationals with a history of illegal drug use.
The Department of Homeland Security under President Joe Biden ultimately denied the information request, which led to Heritage suing the federal government.
The Department of Homeland Security is being represented by lawyer John Bardo, who argued that Harry’s book shouldn’t be used as evidence against him.
“The book isn’t sworn testimony or proof,” Bardo told the court, according to The Telegraph. “Saying something in a book doesn’t necessarily make it true.”
Nile Gardiner, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Margaret Thatcher Center, called that argument “ridiculous,” The Telegraph reported.
“This is Prince Harry’s book,” Gardiner said on Friday. “He has never denied anything in his own book … including the extensive widespread drug use.”
Heritage Foundation lawyer Samuel Dewey, who argued against Harry’s retention of a visa during the trial, said that putting information in a book should be considered evidence.
“‘Spare’ is a valid admission, the Duke has confirmed its accuracy,” Dewey said, according to The Sun.
“The government routinely examines people on things like books and assumes that they’re truthful,” Dewey said. “ … He thought about it. He put it in a book. He put it out. And you don’t really sensationalize a hard fact. You could write something to make it more interesting and an autobiography, but that doesn’t change the fact.”
Dewey lambasted the federal government for “providing special treatment to celebrities.”
He spoke further about that special treatment outside the court after the hearing, according to The Sun:
This case is important because we want to know if the DHS is giving special treatment to high-profile celebrities, and this is probably the most high-profile celebrity out there who’s been in the United States, and were there red flags?
If the Duke of Sussex loses the case, he could face deportation. Harry has said previously that he would not seek U.S. citizenship.
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