The Biden campaign issued a blistering statement that ripped former President Donald Trump for the January 6 protest, following the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity.
The ruling held in a 6-3 decision that presidents are covered by limited immunity from criminal prosecutions for actions taken while in office.
WATCH — Trump: You Can “Get” Biden on Anything if There’s No Presidential Immunity:
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“Today’s ruling doesn’t change the facts, so let’s be very clear about what happened on January 6: Donald Trump snapped after he lost the 2020 election and encouraged a mob to overthrow the results of a free and fair election,” a senior Biden campaign official said in a statement.
“Trump is already running for president as a convicted felon for the very same reason he sat idly by while the mob violently attacked the Capitol: he thinks he’s above the law and is willing to do anything to gain and hold onto power for himself,” the official added.
Biden-Harris campaign statement on SCOTUS presidential immunity ruling pic.twitter.com/Lusy7RzKbd
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) July 1, 2024
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also ripped the ruling as a “disgraceful decision by the MAGA SCOTUS”:
This disgraceful decision by the MAGA SCOTUS — which is comprised of 3 justices appointed by Trump himself — enables the former President to weaken our democracy by breaking the law. It undermines SCOTUS’s credibility and suggests political influence trumps all in our courts today.
The ruling did not suit Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) either, who accused the Court of going “rogue.”
“Today, the Supreme Court has gone rogue with its decision, violating the foundational American principle that no one is above the law,” she said. “The former president’s claim of total presidential immunity is an insult to the vision of our founders, who declared independence from a King.”
Today, the Supreme Court has gone rogue with its decision, violating the foundational American principle that no one is above the law.
The former president’s claim of total presidential immunity is an insult to the vision of our founders, who declared independence from a King.
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) July 1, 2024
Former President Trump celebrated the ruling as a win for Democracy.
“BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY. PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who wrote the opinion for the Court’s majority, said:
This case poses a question of lasting significance: When may a former President be prosecuted for official acts taken during his Presidency? Our Nation has never before needed an answer. But in addressing that question today, unlike the political branches and the public at large, we cannot afford to fixate exclusively, or even primarily, on present exigencies. In a case like this one, focusing on “transient results” may have profound consequences for the separation of powers and for the future of our Republic.
…
The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law. But Congress may not criminalize the President’s conduct in carrying out the responsibilities of the Executive Branch under the Constitution. And the system of separated powers designed by the Framers has always demanded an energetic, independent Executive.
The President therefore may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled, at a minimum, to a presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office, regardless of politics, policy, or party.
The case is Trump v. United States, No. 23-939 in the Supreme Court of the United States.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
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