President Biden reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision to grant former president Donald Trump partial immunity for the Jan. 6 attacks, saying that it sets a “dangerous precedent” for the country.
“It undermines the rule of law,” the president said in a Monday statement that also called out Donald Trump for sending “a vicious mob” to the Capitol on Jan. 6. In a marked difference from his demeanor during his debate with Trump, Biden was confident, forceful and focused.
He said, “I dissent,” concurring with Justice Sotomayor, who wrote a blistering dissension earlier Monday in which she said she “fear[s] for our democracy.”
Biden said that he has no plans to take advantage of the newly expanded powers of the presidency, as determined by the Supreme Court, but that he will “respect the limits of the presidential powers” as he has for his entire term.
He suggested that the best recourse now available to the American public is to vote against Trump, who appointed three of the judges on the current SCOTUS, in the coming election in November.
“The American people will have to do what the court should have been willing to do, but will not do,” he continued. “The American people must decide whether Donald Trump … is fit for public office. The American people must decide Trump’s embrace of violence to preserve his power is acceptable.”
Here is Biden’s statement in full:
The presidency is the most powerful office in the world; it 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 the power of the opposite presences.
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.
Today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity fundamentally changed [that] for all practical purposes.
Today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits what a president can do. This a fundamentally new principle. 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, building limits that 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, gutting voting rights and civil rights, taking away a woman’s right to choose, to today’s decision that undermines the rule of law of this nation.
Four years ago, my predecessor sent a violent mob to the U.S. Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power. With our own eyes, we sat there and watched it happen that day, the attack on the police, ransacking at the Capitol, the mob hunting down the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, gallows erected to hang the vice president, Mike Pence.
I think it’s fair to say it was one of the darkest days in the history of America. Now the man who sent that mob to the U.S. Capitol is facing potential criminal conviction. What happened that day? The American people deserve to have an answer in the courts before the upcoming election.
The public has a right to know the answer about what happened on Jan. 6 before they’re asked to vote again this year.
Now, because of today’s decision, that is highly, highly unlikely. It’s a terrible disservice to the people of this nation. So now the American people will have to do what the court should have been willing to do, but will not: The American people have to render a judgment about Donald Trump’s behavior. The American people must decide whether Donald Trump … is fit for public office. The American people must decide Trump’s embrace of violence to preserve his power is acceptable.
Perhaps most importantly, the American people must decide 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, whatever he wants to do.
The outset of our nation was the character of George Washington, our first president to find the presidency. He believed power was limited, not absolute, and that power always resides with the people, always.
Now, over 200 years later, 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, 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 not be free to ignore the law.
I concur with Justice Sotomayor’s dissent today. She said in every use of official power, the president is now a king above the law, with no fear for our democracy. I dissent. End of quote. So should the American people dissent? I dissent, may God bless you all. May God help preserve our democracy.
