‘I Dissent’: Biden Offers Another Rationale for 2nd Term With Immunity Criticism
It's up to the voters to do what the court will not: hold Trump accountable, president says
In a rare public rebuke, President Biden condemned the US Supreme Court’s decision Monday to expand presidential immunity in the case of Donald Trump fomenting a violent insurrection nearly four years ago.
In the face of the high court’s sweeping ruling, Biden also offered Americans a new reason to vote for him in November: his personal pledge to respect the historical limits of presidential power.
Biden issued his admonishment from the White House on national television, just hours after the court’s right-wing supermajority handed down its explosive decision.
The high court made the historic ruling in response to a legal appeal by Trump in the federal criminal case brought against him due to his efforts to remain in power illegally following his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
But no one — not even US presidents — should be above the law, Biden said.
“The presidency is the most powerful office in the world. It’s an office that not only tests your judgment, perhaps even more importantly, it’s an office that can test your character. Because you not only face moments where you need the courage to exercise the full power of the presidency, you also face moments where you need the wisdom to respect the limits of the power of the office of the presidency,” he said. “This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each of us is equal before the law. No one — no one — is above the law, not even the president of the United States. With today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed.
“For all, for all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a president can do,” Biden added. “This is a fundamentally new principle, and it’s a dangerous precedent because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law, even including the Supreme Court of the United States. The only limits will be self-imposed by the president alone.
“This decision today has continued the court’s attack in recent years on a wide range of long-established legal principles in our nation, from gutting voting rights and civil rights, to taking away a woman’s right to choose, to today’s decision that undermines the rule of law of this nation,” the president said. “Nearly four years ago, my predecessor sent a violent mob to the U.S. Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power.”
It’s now up to the American people must decide if Trump’s embrace of violence to preserve his power is acceptable, Biden said.
He also said that he has respected limits on presidential powers during his years in office.
“Perhaps most importantly, the American people must decide if they want to entrust the president once again, the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing he’ll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases whenever he wants to do it,” Biden said. “You know, at the outset of our nation, it was the character of George Washington, our first president, who defined the presidency. He believed power was limited, not absolute. And that power always resides with the people, always.
“Now, over 200 years later, with 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,” he said. “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, but any president, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law.
“I concur with Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor’s dissent today. Here’s what she said. She said, ‘In every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law. With fear for our democracy, I dissent, end of quote,’” Biden said. “So should the American people, dissent. I dissent.”
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