President Biden said this week that the judicial system and its decisions “should be respected” and argued that the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity “undermines the rule of law in this country,” just a month after bragging that the Supreme Court cannot “stop” him from pursuing his policies.
“Today’s decision continues the Supreme Court’s recent attacks on a wide range of long-established legal principles in our country, from eviscerating voting rights and civil rights to stripping women of their right to choose to today’s decision that undermines the rule of law in this country,” Biden said in a brief address from the White House on Monday.
Biden’s comments about the ruling came less than a week after a disastrous debate with former President Trump, in which Biden argued that the Supreme Court’s decision would “empower” the former president if he were to return to the White House in this year’s election.
“The American people must decide whether it is acceptable for Trump to resort to violence to stay in power. Perhaps most importantly, the American people must decide whether they want to entrust the presidency to Donald Trump again. He will now be even more emboldened to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, how he wants,” Biden said.
After Trump’s conviction, Biden openly defies Supreme Court ruling but calls for respect for legal system
President Biden said the Supreme Court’s Monday ruling on executive immunity “undermines the rule of law in this country.” (Getty Images)
The president’s comments were a different tone from those he made in May, when he said the justice system “should be respected” and that it was “reckless” to claim that a New York City criminal trial verdict was “rigged.”
“It’s reckless, dangerous and irresponsible to say there was fraud just because you don’t like the verdict,” Biden said in response to Trump’s comments about the New York v. Trump ruling, in which the former president was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
“Our justice system has been in place for nearly 250 years and is literally a cornerstone of America. Our justice system, that justice, must be respected. And we must not let anyone destroy it. That’s it,” Biden added at the time.
Biden last spoke out about Trump’s ruling in May, telling supporters at a rally in Philadelphia: Supreme Court ruling Even if his student loan debt relief plan was unconstitutional, he couldn’t “stop” paying off student loans.
“The Supreme Court blocked student loan forgiveness, but it didn’t stop me,” Biden said in a speech at Girard College in May.
The president sent the same message Post to X May 29th.
In the case of Trump v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the former president had a crucial Immunity from prosecution It applies to official conduct done while in office, but not to unofficial conduct.
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court did not apply its ruling to whether former President Trump is immune from prosecution for conduct related to attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and sent the issue back to a lower court.
Biden slams Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, ignores questions about withdrawal
President Biden (right) said in May that the justice system “must be respected” and called it “reckless” for former President Donald Trump to claim the New York trial verdict was “rigged.” (Getty Images)
“This is a fundamentally new principle and a dangerous precedent because the power of the presidency will no longer be constrained by the law, including by the Supreme Court of the United States. The only limitations will be those self-imposed by the president himself,” Biden said Monday.
Before finishing his speech and dodging reporters’ questions, Biden spoke about the character of America’s first president, George Washington, saying he believed power was limited, not absolute.
Biden, like other Democratic and Republican presidents throughout history, has denounced numerous Supreme Court decisions during his time in the White House.
Biden took direct aim at the Supreme Court during his State of the Union address in March, arguing that it had underestimated women’s “electoral and political power” in its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In an interview with MSNBC about his comments on the Supreme Court, Biden said: Biden:“Look, I think they made the wrong decision. I think they read the Constitution wrong. I think they made a mistake.”
Biden made similar comments. Speaking at the Julian Dixon Library in Culver City, California, in February, he said the Supreme Court’s decision “did not stop” students from paying off their student loans.
“At the beginning of my term, I announced a big plan to provide college loan debt forgiveness to millions of working families,” Biden said at the time. “We would have literally wiped out the debt for tens of millions of people who were in debt. But my MAGA Republican friends in Congress, elected officials and special interests stepped in and sued us. And the Supreme Court blocked it. But it couldn’t stop me.”
Last June, supreme court The 6-3 ruling said federal law does not allow Biden, the education secretary, to forgive more than $430 billion in student loan debt. Biden promised at the time that his administration would continue to move forward with a student loan debt relief plan.
Immediately after the court ruling, Biden said: “I think the court misunderstood the Constitution.”
President Biden attends a press conference at the White House in Washington, DC on July 1, 2024. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
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Earlier this year, Biden unveiled a plan to make savings for education that are worthwhile. Cancel a debt Enrolled borrowers with at least 10 years of repayment time and $12,000 or less in student loan debt are eligible. Borrowers with more debt will receive relief after making one year of additional payments for every additional $1,000 borrowed.
“Expressing opposition to Supreme Court decisions, as all presidents do, is not the same as attacking the rule of law and undermining our judicial system,” Biden campaign spokesman James Singer said in a statement to Fox News Digital last month.
Fox News’ Stephanie Price and Lindsay Koenick contributed to this report.
