but we begin in Washington where just minutes ago US President Joe Biden gave his first reaction to a controversial Supreme Court ruling their historic 6 to3 ruling gives former presidents absolute immunity from prosecution for their official acts Biden says the decision sets a dangerous precedent for the power of the Oval Office this nation was founded on the principle that there are no Kings in America each 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 what a president can do 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 for more we’re joined Now by journalist Ira Spitzer in San Francisco so Ira you were listening in to Biden’s speech what stood out to you well President Biden as we just heard there saying in no uncertain terms that he disagrees with the Supreme Court decision which uh came down earlier today giving president Trump near total immunity at least four uh acts His official acts carried out as president and uh Biden uh really of course uh I would say seeking to change the narrative we’ve seen so much of the narrative over the past few days focusing on his disastrous debate performance last week so the President coming out very uh strong there very composed and uh saying that this uh is now going to be uh something that he wants to give the American public American voters uh something to to think about with regards to this upcoming Choice which is likely to be between President Biden and Donald Trump and saying that uh some of the uh the danger that Trump uh poses to the country in Biden’s view that uh this has now been enhanced by this Supreme Court which you’ll remember Trump himself appointed three of those justices so uh again another uh just another uh big huge item to go on this uh on the presidential campaign Trail as well as of course a Monumental decision on its own from the US Supreme Court earlier and Ira what kind of reaction have we heard from Donald Trump today well as you might imagine Donald Trump having a basically the opposite reaction as Joe Biden Trump calling it a big win for democracy he uh of course has been railing against uh the criminal charges against him which uh he he he will face well he still places uh three potential cases and of course he was already convicted in New York state so uh Trump has been railing against uh some of these these cases against him or all of these cases against him so certainly a big win for the former president to have this sort of uh support for the Supreme Court which really undermines uh the potential to uh to try him for his alleged attempts to subvert the 2020 election so uh this is surely uh going to be a another major issue going forward for this uh very heated and intense presidential campaign which as we’ve seen is really uh taken to to new heights and new levels over the past week with that debate and then now with the Supreme Court ruling all right Ira that is journalist Ira Spitzer joining us from San Francisco our thanks to you well let’s bring in Jim robenalt he is a presidential historian and lawyer we’ve reached him tonight in Cleveland Ohio for reaction so uh Jim thanks for being here you know we we we just saw the current US president use this decision to really highlight and underscore the Stark difference between his leadership style and that of of of President Trump and saying this would only further embolden president Trump if he gets back into the Oval Office what stood out from you from the the president’s brief remarks just now well I mean his his final note I desent along with Justice sudo mayor it you know it’s a very strong quick response to this very dangerous Supreme Court precedent and I think for with him coming out in suggesting that this is well beyond anything we’ve ever seen it underscores one thing and that is Trump needs to be defeated because if he gets power with the Supreme Court that allows presidents to do whatever they want with with absolute immunity um it becomes exceptionally dangerous especially when uh one of the cornerstones of Trump’s campaign is that he wants to get retribution against political enemies so uh Biden’s response was very strong very direct very quick and and I think very accurate this is a dangerous precedent well you know the liberal justices uh have all come out with the you know written descent Justice katoni Brown Jackson wrote something and I’ll just read this to the audience hypothetical president who admits to having ordered the assassinations of his political rivals or critics or one who uh instigates an unsuccessful coup or has a fair shot of getting immunity those are all uh you know possibilities they they would be uh immune now that’s hypothetical situation but we saw you know President Biden just now really try to change the channel from his debate performance to talking about you know what could possibly happen with another Trump presidency do you think this will be enough to change the channel uh no uh but I do think that we face uh a twin crisis in in the United States right now five days ago um something went haywire with Joe Biden in that debate and nobody has explained it some have said maybe it was cold medicine if that’s the case I want a doctor to tell me that uh should he have some sort of neurological exam to see if he had a neurological event because the next morning he was a different person um and more like the person we had always seen so until he answers the question of what happened that night this issue of whether or not this is just an aging process problem that’s only going to get worse is going to dog him um and so we have that crisis five days ago and then today we have the Supreme Court essentially giving Trump a large pass on being prosecuted for the January 6 Insurrection there’s still he will still face um charges but it’s a very uh broad uh Grant of immunity to Trump for uh doing things in what are called as official capacity as opposed to his unofficial capacity this is the first time in US history that the court decided a president is shielded from some criminal acts Beyond Biden and Trump how do you see this ruling affecting us democracy going forward well I think you know we have separation of powers we have an executive a legislative and judicial branch and they can’t get into each other’s business so to speak they are independent there is a separation of powers but they also work together an intandem um you know the Congress has the right to impeach the president um the Judiciary has the right to scale back legislation that is beyond constitutional bounds and and they still have to work together in this instance the Supreme Court gave much more leeway to the executive branch to do things that could be fundamentally illegal but still the president would be immune from Criminal prosecution so that undoes to me this delicate balance of the separation of powers as opposed to enforcing it we’re going to have lots more discussions about this in the coming days but we have have to leave it there for now Jim appreciate your time tonight that is Jim robenalt who is a presidential historian and lawyer
U.S. President Joe Biden slammed the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity for official acts, a decision seen as a win for his rival, ex-president Donald Trump. Jim Robenalt, a presidential historian and lawyer, told Canada Tonight it would be ‘exceptionally dangerous’ if Trump returns to power, especially if he wants to get ‘retribution against political enemies.’
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