Biden slams Supreme Court immunity ruling

The Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling grants Donald Trump and other former presidents broad immunity

(Image credit: Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images)

published 2 July 2024

What happened

President Joe Biden late Monday sharply criticized the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling granting Donald Trump and other former presidents broad immunity for "official acts during his tenure in office." In a brief White House address, Biden said the court's conservative majority invented a "dangerous" and "fundamentally new principle" that leaves "virtually no limits on what the president can do." Trump asked a New York judge to set aside his 34 state felony convictions in light of the ruling and delay his July 11 sentencing. The court's decision also means Trump won't face federal trial before the election for trying to overturn his 2020 loss.

The American people now "have to do what the courts should have been willing to do, but will not," Biden said: Decide if Trump's "assault on our democracy on Jan. 6 makes him unfit for office" and whether they want to "entrust the presidency" to him again, "knowing he'll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it."

In an upside for Biden, Politico said, Republicans won't be able to go after him for the Afghanistan withdrawal, border management or any of the other "crimes" they have suggested merit prosecution.

Trump's motion to dismiss the New York state convictions "might be a long shot" because the hush-money case centers on acts Trump "took as a candidate, not a president," The New York Times said. On the other hand, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, charged by the Supreme Court to sort out which aspects of the federal election case are official and unofficial, may hold a "mini-trial" before the election, allowing "prosecutors to detail much of their evidence" against Trump while "lacking only a jury to render a verdict."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.