US President, Joe Biden has described the Supreme Court's immunity decision as 'dangerous' and said it would embolden former President Donald Trump if the Republican is reelected.
Biden made the statement at the White
House's Cross Hall on Monday night.
He warned that the conservative-leaning court 'fundamentally changed' a bedrock
principle of the nation and pushed the American people to reject Trump in
November at the ballot box.
'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 ruling practically insured
that Trump wouldn't face another trial before the November election after
being convicted in New York on 34 counts of business fraud related to hush
money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016
election.
The sentencing for that case comes next
week.
The
decision grants Trump partial criminal immunity on actions he took as president
while attempting to overturn the 2020 result - including on January 6,
putting in peril Special Counsel Jack Smith's election interference case.
Additionally, the election interference case
in Georgia has been paused, as has the federal classified documents case based
in Florida, also being handled by Smith.
Biden called the Supreme Court's decision a continued 'attack' on 'wide range
of long established legal principles,' pointing to the reversal of Roe v. Wade
and controversial decisions on civil and voting rights.
'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 pointed to 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 behavior.'
'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 pointed to the
example set 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 are
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 marks a big win for Trump,
who's already been taking a victory lap after Thursday
night's CNN debate.
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