Press
Donald Trump has won a victory in the highest US court. President Joe Biden warns of the consequences.
Washington – US President Joe Biden has criticized the US Supreme Court’s ruling on immunity from prosecution as a “dangerous precedent.” “Today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits to what a president can do,” the Democrat said in a hastily arranged speech at the White House on Monday evening (local time). Any president – including his predecessor and potential successor Donald Trump – will now have the freedom to ignore the law, Biden warned.
With its decision, the Supreme Court has created a “fundamentally new principle”: the power of the presidency will no longer be limited by laws, not even by the Supreme Court. “The only limits are set by the president himself,” Biden warned.
Trump won a significant victory in the highest US court on Monday. The Supreme Court ruled that former presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts in office. The Constitution does not explicitly grant presidents immunity, even while in office. However, the Justice Department has traditionally held that presidents cannot be prosecuted, at least while in the White House.
Court decision delays start of trial
With their decision, the judges have further delayed the start of the election fraud trial against Donald Trump. Now a lower court must define which actions Trump’s immunity applies to. It is considered very unlikely that the trial in Washington will begin before the presidential election in November.
Trump is facing charges in the US capital in connection with attempted election fraud. Supporters of the Republican stormed the parliament building in Washington on January 6, 2021. Before storming the Capitol, Trump had tried on various levels to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election and reverse his defeat to Democrat Biden. Proceedings are also underway in the state of Georgia against Trump for attempted election manipulation.
Biden said in his speech that the people of the United States have a right to receive an answer from the courts about Trump’s role in the storming of the Capitol before the upcoming presidential election in November. But that answer will probably no longer be available.
Biden, who is in a critical phase of his election campaign after a disastrous performance at the TV debate last week, used the opportunity to call on people to vote. The 81-year-old did not answer questions about his candidacy. dpa
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