President Joe Biden got political during primetime remarks from the White House, hammering Trump’s character and the Supreme Court’s immunity decision.
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Biden said:
The presidency is the most powerful office in the world, an office that not only tests your judgment but more importantly it’s an office that can test your character because you’re not only faced moments when you need courage to exercise the full power of the presidency, you also face moments where you need the wisdom to respects the limits of the office of presidency.
This nation was founded on the principle there was no king in this country. We’re each equal before the law, no one is above the law, not even the president of the united States. But today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed for all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means there’s no limits what a president can do. This is a fundamentally new principle and it’s a dangerous precedent. The power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law even 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 long range of long established rights. Taking away a woman’s right to choose, to today’s decision, 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, we saw it with our own eyes, we sat there and watched it happen. Attack on the police. Ransacking of the Capitol.
A mob hunting down the House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Gallows erected to hang the vice president Mike Pence. One of the darkest days in history of America, now the man who sent that mob to the U.S. Capitol is facing potential criminal conviction for what happened that day. American people deserve to have answers to that before the upcoming election. About what happened on January 6th before they’re asked to vote again this fall.
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Perhaps most importantly, American people must decide they want to entrust the presidency once again to Donald Trump. Being even more emboldened. You know, at the outset of our nation, it was the character of George Washington, our first president defined the presidency, he believe power was limited, not absolute. 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 had for 3 1/2 years, but any president including Donald Trump will now be free to ignore the law. I concur with Justice Sotomayor’s dissent today. She said in every use of visual power, the president is now a king above the law, with 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. May God protect our troops.
This was the message that America needed to hear. America needed to hear from the President, and they needed to hear that the Supreme Court decision on executive power means that the character running of the two major contenders for the presidency is on the ballot.
Biden was clear and strong, and his presence shot down the recent stories and rumors that he could not deliver remarks or be in public after 4 p.m. If Biden wants to reassure voters that he is up to the job of the presidency, the best way to do that is for the American people to see him doing the job.