President Joe Biden on Monday issued his own “dissent” to the Supreme Court’s ruling granting former presidents immunity for official acts, calling it a “dangerous precedent” that “undermines the rule of law.”
In brief remarks at the White House, Biden said the high court’s 6-3 decision was a “terrible disservice” to the voting public, who deserved to see Donald Trump tried for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection before heading to the polls.
“Now the American people will have to do what the courts should have been willing to do, but will not,” Biden said.
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It was one of the president’s first public appearances since a poor debate performance last week that supercharged concerns over his age and mental fitness as they pertain to the rigors of the job. Biden did not stumble over his words nearly as much as he did during Thursday’s televised debate, reading from a teleprompter before walking off without taking questions.
“The American people have to render judgment about Donald Trump’s behavior,” he said. “The American people must decide whether Donald Trump’s assault on our democracy on Jan. 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. Perhaps most importantly, the American people must decide if they want to entrust the presidency once again to Donald Trump, being even more emboldened.”
Trump, who has refused to rule out breaking the law if re-elected, reacted positively to the ruling, heralding it as a “BIG WIN.”
Biden, after invoking George Washington’s non-monarchical view of the presidency, said he would continue to adhere to that ethos.
“I know I will respect the limits of the presidential powers. I have for three-and-a-half years. But any president, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law,” he warned.
Biden, who characterized Monday’s ruling as the latest in the court’s “attack in recent years on a long range of long established precedents,” closed by aligning himself with Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent.
“I concur with Justice Sotomayor’s dissent today,” Biden said, before quoting the justice. “‘In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law. With fear for our democracy, I dissent.’”
“So should the American people dissent,” Biden urged. “I dissent.”
