Vice President Kamala Harris is warning voters not to reelect former President Donald Trump, citing last month’s Supreme Court ruling that grants presidents absolute immunity for official actions.
Ms. Harris, the Democratic nominee, told rallygoers in Nevada over the weekend that there would be no check on Mr. Trump’s behavior if he is reelected.
“So much is on the line in this election and understand, this is not 2016, this is not 2020. This time around, the stakes are even higher,” Ms. Harris said. “And that’s because last month the Supreme Court basically told the former president that going forward, he will effectively be immune no matter what he does in the White House.”
On July 1, the justices ruled 6-3 that presidents enjoy absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions taken under their core official functions, presumed immunity for all official acts and no immunity for nonofficial acts.
Mr. Trump brought a challenge claiming he had absolute immunity from criminal prosecution against special counsel Jack Smith’s election fraud indictment pending in Washington.
The decision did not focus on Mr. Trump’s charges and instead set out guidelines for lower courts to consider and weigh when evaluating charges against a president.
But the Supreme Court’s decision was seen as a win for Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee, in that it delayed proceedings against him until likely after the Nov. 5 election.
It has left Trump critics frustrated because the decision delays his election fraud case and other legal battles as lower courts grapple with what charges are subject to immunity and which ones are not.
Due to the ruling and subsequent challenges, Mr. Trump won’t have a hearing in his election fraud case until September with no new trial date set yet.
That litigation has been on hold for seven months while the Supreme Court weighed the immunity claim.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing a lengthy dissent for the Democratic-appointed justices, warned the decision “makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.”
“Relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom about the need for ’bold and unhesitating action’ by the President … the Court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more,” she wrote.
Ms. Harris said Mr. Trump “vowed to be a dictator on Day One of reelection.”
“He said he will weaponize, essentially, the Department of Justice against his political enemies and even called for the ’termination of the Constitution of the United States,’” Ms. Harris said.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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