An MSNBC legal analyst recently made a dire prediction for the state of American democracy if former President Donald Trump were to receive a favorable ruling on his presidential immunity case before the Supreme Court. According to Andrew Weismann, the Supreme Court’s decision on Trump’s arguments could upend the U.S. political system as we know it.
The Republican presidential candidate’s legal team is actively arguing to the nation’s highest court that Trump should not be held legally liable for charges he committed while serving as president. In a positive sign for the former president, some justices seemed open to the case, possibly willing to send the decision back down to lower courts.
However, Trump’s immunity claims have the left up in arms. For years, Democrats have claimed Trump is a threat to Democracy, which is only fueled by his case for immunity. In the words of Weissmann, the U.S. is “one vote away from the end of democracy.”
He told MSNBC host Jen Psaki, “I think that it’s important to remember that at the outset, the court had already given Donald Trump the win that he was seeking, which is the delay of the DC trial.” He Weissmann added that it is “shocking” that the justices would entertain Trump’s arguments.
“So going into this, this was all upside for him. I mean, I think he had to be thinking, I’m making this really outlandish argument, with ramifications that couldn’t possibly be squared with the text and history. The text of the Constitution or the history of the presidency? So it’s all upside if the court would actually bite on this. And so what was surprising is that there were justices who actually were taking this seriously. And it just was, frankly, shocking,” he said.
The legal analyst continued, touching on the concept of private conduct. He stated, “Remember, going into this, the given was that private conduct was certainly not, immunized from criminal liability. What everyone’s talking about now is, hey, maybe they think that some of this is private and they can go forward, but that was what was given going into this. And the reason people are thinking that is because there seem to be four justices who were really taking Donald Trump’s claim of criminal immunity seriously. And we are.”
Weismann illustrated how democracy is supposedly at stake with this case, suggesting it could disrupt the existing checks and balances placed on the executive branch. He stated that it could create an “imperial presidency” or a “king.” Watch Weissmann’s take below:
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“I mean, I know it sounds like hyperbole, but I think your opening is so correct that we are essentially, as Neil put it, one vote away from sort of the end of democracy as we know it with checks and balances. And to say it’s an imperial presidency that would be created is, it’s frankly saying it would be a king, he would be criminally immune. And that that is what is so shocking is how close we are,” he said. “And we are really on the razor’s edge of that kind of result. But for the chief justice.”
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.