The fact that a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court responded at all is a very big deal. The fact that is was a direct rebuke to Donald Trump makes it bigger. Here’s what happened:

Monday, Judge John Tigar of the ninth circuit blocked the Trump administration from refusing to allow migrants asylum if they enter in between border crossings. Trump’s instinct was to blame the judge for political bias saying, “You go to the Ninth Circuit and it’s a disgrace, and I’m going to put in a major complaint.” He went a step further saying the judge was aligned with former President Barack Obama remarking, “This was an Obama judge. And I’ll tell you what, it’s not going to happen like this anymore.”

Today The Associated Press reports:

Chief Justice Roberts issued his statement in response to a request for comment from The Associated Press about Mr. Trump’s remarks on Tuesday concerning the asylum ruling, which ordered the administration to resume accepting asylum claims from migrants no matter where or how they entered the United States.

The statement read:

“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

The Washington Post writes:

Roberts has not commented on Trump before, even though during the campaign Trump as a candidate called Roberts a “disaster” because of his vote with the court’s liberals to uphold the Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. Liberals who follow the court and are often critical of Roberts applauded his Wednesday statement. “A remarkable rebuke of a President by a Chief Justice — offhand, I can’t think of any historical analogy even close. But then again, every day Trump breaches norms never before breached. Major kudos to Chief Justice Roberts for doing the right thing,” Georgetown law professor Marty Lederman said in a tweet.

The fact Chief Justice Roberts even publicly said this is astounding https://t.co/RjeNoTs3zl — Evan Siegfried (@evansiegfried) November 21, 2018

It didn’t take long for Trump to push back against Roberts.

Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have “Obama judges,” and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country. It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an “independent judiciary,” but if it is why…… — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 21, 2018