(The Center Square) – Former President Donald Trump posted on TruthSocial Monday shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on his claim to have presidential immunity in the criminal charges against him.
“BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY,” Trump wrote online. “PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
The ruling puts a president’s actions into three categories: core Constitutional acts, official acts, and unofficial acts. For core duties, a president has absolute immunity. For official acts, a president has presumptive immunity that a prosecutor would have to prove does not apply to the charges in question. For unofficial acts, there is no immunity.
“President’s exercise of his core constitutional powers, this immunity must be absolute,” the ruling said. “As for his remaining official actions, he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity.”
After the ruling Monday, Trump went on to call for an end to all the criminal prosecutions against him.
“Today’s Historic Decision by the Supreme Court should end all of Crooked Joe Biden’s Witch Hunts against me, including the New York Hoaxes – The Manhattan SCAM cooked up by Soros backed D.A., Alvin Bragg, Racist New York Attorney General Tish James’ shameless ATTACK on the amazing business that I have built, and the FAKE Bergdorf’s ‘case,’” he wrote on TruthSocial. “PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!”
Other Republicans welcomed the ruling as well.
“Today’s Supreme Court ruling upholds the rule of law in our country and rebukes Democrats’ blatant attempts to weaponize our legal system against Donald Trump. Time and time again, Americans have watched the Biden administration do everything in its power to take down President Trump, but this partisan attack will not stand in America,” said Senator Blackburn.
The ruling comes as Trump faces an array of legal charges in multiple states. This case most closely affect the charges that Trump stirred up protesters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Now, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith has a much bigger hurdle in his prosecution of Trump on the Jan. 6 case.
“A massive win, not just for Trump but the rule of law,” Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, wrote on X. “I’m still digesting but this may well destroy all of Jack Smith’s case against the president.”
Trump has argued that he offered 10,000 national guard to protect the Capitol which were refused and that he put out a video that day calling for peaceful protests. The claim about offering Troops has repeatedly been called false in media fact checks. He also argued that he acted in his official capacity as president and cannot be prosecuted. He argues this will kickstart a cycle of political opponents prosecuting presidents.
Democrats, meanwhile, blasted the decision, with some calling for President Joe Biden to immediately begin abusing his authority with this newfound immunity.
The ruling is a blow to the Democratic establishment this election year, who has been pointing to Trump’s legal woes to deflect from Biden’s recent disastrous debate performance.
“Our democracy has been gravely wounded,” Former Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder wrote on X. “The Trump immunity decision says: a president CAN VIOLATE THE CRIMINAL LAW if he acts within his broadly defined ‘constitutional authority.’ Absurd and dangerous. There is no basis in the Constitution for this Court constructed monstrosity.”
Other Democrats were more hopeful.
“Don’t panic on Trump immunity case,” Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., who serves on the House Judiciary Committee, wrote on X. “Jack Smith will argue Trump’s actions were not ‘official acts.’ There’s precedent on this from a J6 civil case *that I know a thing or two about* that was unanimously upheld by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. This is not a Trump victory.”
