Joe Biden Slams Supreme Court Over Decision On Trump

US President Joe Biden has condemned the Supreme Court’s immunity decision as ‘dangerous’, claiming it could encourage former President Donald Trump if he is reelected.

On Monday night, Biden made the statement in the Cross Hall of the White House.

He cautioned that the conservative-leaning court had ‘fundamentally transformed’ a national norm, urging Americans to vote against Trump in November.

“This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America,” Biden said.

“Today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a president can do,” he continued. “This is a fundamentally new principle and it’s a dangerous precedent.”

“The only limits will be self-imposed by the president alone,” he warned.

The Court’s 6-3 decision effectively ensured that Trump would not face another trial before the November election, having been convicted in New York on 34 charges of business fraud connected to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

The sentence in that case is scheduled for next week.

The ruling offers Trump partial criminal immunity for steps he made as president in an attempt to reverse the 2020 election results, including on January 6, jeopardising Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election meddling case.

Additionally, the election interference investigation in Georgia has been paused, as has the federal secret documents case in Florida, which is also being handled by Smith.

Biden referred to the Supreme Court’s decision as a continuing “attack” on a “wide range of long-established legal principles,” citing the overturning of Roe v. Wade and controversial civil and voting rights rulings.

“Only four years ago, my predecessor sent a violent mob to the U.S. Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power. We all saw it with our own eyes. We sat there and watched it happen that day,” Biden said.

“Attack on the police. The ransacking of the capitol. The mob hunting down House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Gallows erected to hang the vice president, Mike Pence,” he continued. “I think it’s fair to say it was one of the darkest days in the history of America.”

Biden cited Trump’s federal election interference court case.

“The American people deserve to have an answer in the courts before the upcoming election,” he argued. “Now because of today’s decision that is highly, highly unlikely.”

“It’s a terrible disservice for the people of this nation,” he said. “So now, now the American people will have to do what the courts should have been willing to do, but will not – the American people will have to render a judgment about Donald Trump’s behaviour.”

“The American people must decide whether Donald Trump’s assault on our democracy on January 6 makes him unfit for public office – the highest office in the land. The American people must decide if Trump’s embrace of violence to preserve his power is acceptable,” Biden said.

“Perhaps, most importantly, the American people must decide if they want to entrust the president – the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing he’ll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it,” the Democrat warned.

The 81-year-old president cited the precedent established by the nation’s first president, George Washington.

“He believed power was limited, not absolute. And that power always resides with the people, always,” Biden said. “Now we’re 200 years later, today’s Supreme Court decision, once again it will depend on the character of the men and women who hold that presidency that is going to define the limits of the power of the presidency because the law will no longer do it.”

“I know I will respect the limits of the presidential powers I have for three and a half years,” Biden said. “But any president including Donald Trump will now be free to ignore the law.”

Biden said he agreed with liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor. “In every use of official power, the president is now a king above law. With fear for our democracy, I dissent,’ he said, quoting Sotomayor.

“So should the American people dissent,” Biden said. “I dissent.”

The decision is a significant triumph for Trump, who has already celebrated following Thursday night’s CNN debate.

A Gentle Reminder: Every obstacle is a stepping stone, every morning; a chance to go again, and those little steps take you closer to your dream.

Nnamdi Okoli