The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that Trump has “absolute immunity” for official acts.
Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered blistering remarks on Monday in response to the US Supreme Court’s decision to grant former president Donald Trump “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecutions for “official” acts taken as president.
The Court issued their ruling in a 6-3 decision with all of the conservative justices ruling in favor of Trump.
“I think this is a dark day for America, holding that now there is at least one person who is above the law,” Shapiro said at a press conference on Monday.
Shapiro was visiting seniors in Scranton and promoting the Property Tax / Rent Rebate Program when he responded to a reporter’s question about the ruling.
“That is not the very core principle that this nation was founded upon, and the Supreme Court, I think, has ushered us into a dangerous new era and one that all Americans should be concerned about,” Shapiro continued.
“I have grave concerns with this ruling today, and not just because of what it means for Donald Trump, a corrupt individual who now is legally above the law in many cases. But I worry about the future of this nation and I worry about the fact that we no longer have that same underpinning of equality that our founding fathers worked so hard to develop.”
In her dissenting opinion, Justice Sonya Sotomayor warned that this ruling effectively grants immunity to a president willing to assassinate a political opponent, take bribes in exchange for a pardon, or organize a coup.
She ended her dissent saying “with fear for our democracy, I dissent.”
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign continued to warn voters that Trump is a threat to democracy following the Court’s ruling.
“I think our campaign is going to continue to make the case that the stakes of this election cannot be higher,” Quentin Fulks, the Biden-Harris 2024 Principal Deputy Campaign Manager, said on a press call with reporters on Monday.
“Honestly because of this opinion from the Supreme Court today, it just puts a finer point on the fact that if Donald Trump gets anywhere near the Oval Office again, he will rule as a dictator. He will use his power to harm his political enemies, he will continue to incite political violence and that is something that we cannot afford. He will only take our country back.”
