U.S. President Joe Biden warned on Monday that the Supreme Court's decision to grant his predecessor Donald Trump criminal immunity for actions he took while in office represents a "dangerous precedent." The Democratic president stated in a televised address to the nation that this decision "essentially creates a new principle and a dangerous precedent, as the powers of the (president) will no longer be constrained by law."
Biden's campaign team condemned Donald Trump after the Supreme Court ruled that he enjoys a certain degree of immunity as a former president. The Biden campaign stated, "Donald Trump lost his mind after losing the 2020 election and incited a mob to overturn the results. He believes he is above the law and is willing to do anything to gain and maintain power."
The U.S. Supreme Court had resolved Trump’s request for full immunity from prosecution in the criminal case related to his efforts to overturn his loss in the 2020 election. The Court announced that Trump possesses absolute immunity for his official actions, not personal ones, and referred the immunity case to a lower court to delay his trial.
The Court opined that former presidents are entitled to absolute immunity from prosecution for actions that fall within their constitutional authority but are not entitled to immunity for actions taken in a personal capacity. The decision, made on an ideological divide among the justices with a 6-3 majority, comes four months before the election in which Trump is running against Democrat Joe Biden.
The former president, the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 election, faces four federal criminal charges in Washington, D.C., for his attempts to overturn the victory of his Democratic opponent Joe Biden in the 2020 election. The former Republican president has denied any wrongdoing, asserting that these trials and three other trials are politically motivated attempts to prevent him from returning to the White House.
