President Joe Biden strongly condemns the Supreme Court's decision to grant partial immunity to former President Donald Trump, warning that it sets a dangerous precedent and could embolden Trump in a second term.
- Jul 2, 2024
AceShowbiz - President Joe Biden has slammed the Supreme Court's latest ruling to grant former President Donald Trump partial immunity in his criminal cases. In a speech on Monday, July 1, Biden declared that the ruling makes Trump "a king above the law," arguing that it effectively removes any practical limits on what a president can do while in office. Biden emphasized that no one, including the president, is above the law.
The ruling stems from Trump's indictment on several felonies related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of official proceedings.
Monday's decision sends Trump's case back to a lower court to determine which of his actions fall under official capacity and should therefore be dropped. Special prosecutor Jack Smith will now have to restructure his case to account for the immunity granted to Trump.
Biden accused the Supreme Court of giving Trump an unfair advantage and expressed concern that the decision could make it virtually impossible to hold him accountable for his actions on January 6, 2021.
"This is a fundamentally new principal and a dangerous new precedent," Biden said. "The American people deserve to have an answer in the court before the upcoming election."
The Supreme Court's decision was split 6-3 along ideological lines, with Chief Justice John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett voting in favor of immunity. Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.
Justice Sotomayor warned that the ruling creates a "law-free zone around the President" and allows him to commit heinous crimes without fear of prosecution.
Biden's remarks come amid ongoing concerns about his age and performance in his recent debate with Trump. However, during Monday's speech, Biden appeared alert and read energetically from a teleprompter.
Biden concluded his speech by calling on voters to hold Trump accountable. "The American people must decide if they want to entrust ... the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing that he'll be even more emboldened to do whatever he pleases whenever he wants to do it," he said.
Trump responded to the ruling on his social media platform Truth Social, calling it a "big win for our Constitution and democracy." However, he remains under scrutiny as the case returns to the lower courts for further review.
