President Biden told voters on Monday that it will be left to them to judge Donald Trump for encouraging a mob to violently attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, hours after the Supreme Court issued a ruling granting U.S. Presidents immunity from prosecution for official acts. The decision means that Trump is unlikely to face a criminal trial over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election before voters go to the polls in November.
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00:00Good evening.
00:03The presidency is the most powerful office in the world.
00:07It's an office that not only tests your judgment,
00:11perhaps even more importantly,
00:13it's an office that can test your character.
00:15Because you not only face moments
00:17where you need the courage to exercise
00:19the full power of the presidency,
00:21you also face moments where you need the wisdom
00:24to respect the limits of the power
00:26of the office of the presidency.
00:28This nation was founded on the principle
00:31that there are no kings in America.
00:33Each, each of us is equal before the law.
00:37No one, no one is above the law,
00:40not even the President of the United States.
00:42With today's Supreme Court decision
00:45on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed.
00:50For all, for all practical purposes,
00:52today's decision almost certainly means
00:54that there are virtually no limits
00:56on what a president can do.
00:59This is a fundamentally new principle,
01:01and it's a dangerous precedent.
01:04Because the power of the office will no longer be constrained
01:06by the law,
01:08even including the Supreme Court of the United States.
01:11The only limits will be self-imposed
01:13by the president alone.
01:15This decision today has continued the court's attack
01:18in recent years on a wide range
01:20of long-established legal principles in our nation.
01:24From gutting voting rights and civil rights,
01:26to taking away a woman's right to choose,
01:29to today's decision that undermines
01:32the rule of law of this nation.
01:34Nearly four years ago, my predecessor sent a violent mob
01:38to the U.S. Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
01:43We all saw it with our own eyes.
01:45We sat there and watched it happen that day.
01:48Attack on the police, the ransacking of the Capitol,
01:53a mob literally hunting down the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi.
01:58Gallows erected to hang the Vice President, Mike Pence.
02:02I think it's fair to say it was one of the darkest days
02:04in the history of America.
02:07Now the man who sent that mob to the U.S. Capitol
02:10is facing potential criminal conviction
02:13for what happened that day.
02:15And the American people deserve to have an answer in the courts
02:18before the upcoming election.
02:20The public has a right to know the answer
02:23about what happened on January 6th
02:25before they asked to vote again this year.
02:28Now, because of today's decision,
02:31that is highly, highly unlikely.
02:34It's a terrible disservice to the people of this nation.
02:36So now, now the American people will have to do
02:39what the courts should have been willing to do, but will not.
02:43The American people have to render a judgment
02:45about Donald Trump's behavior.
02:47The American people must decide whether Donald Trump
02:50assault on our democracy on January 6th
02:53makes him unfit for public office
02:54in the highest office in the land.
02:57The American people must decide if Trump's embrace of violence
03:01to preserve his power is acceptable.
03:05Perhaps most importantly, the American people must decide
03:09they want to entrust the President once again,
03:12the presidency to Donald Trump,
03:15now knowing he'll be more emboldened
03:17to do whatever he pleases whenever he wants to do it.
03:20You know, at the outset of our nation,
03:23it was the character of George Washington,
03:25our first President, who defined the presidency.
03:28He believed power was limited, not absolute.
03:32And that power always resides with the people, always.
03:36Now, over 200 years later, with today's Supreme Court decision,
03:41once again, it will depend on the character of the men
03:43and women who hold that presidency
03:46that are going to define the limits
03:47of the power of the presidency.
03:49Because the law will no longer do it.
03:53I know I will respect the limits of the presidential powers
03:56I have for three and a half years,
03:59but any President, including Donald Trump,
04:01will now be free to ignore the law.
04:05I concur with Justice Sotomayor's dissent today.
04:09She hears what she said. She said,
04:10in every use of official power,
04:13the President is now a king above the law.
04:15Now, with fear for our democracy, I dissent.
04:20End of quote.
04:22Associate the American people dissent.
04:26I dissent.
04:28May God bless you all.
04:29And may God help preserve our democracy.
04:32Thank you. And may God protect our children.
04:34What makes you so confident you should be the President?