Following Monday’s Supreme Court ruling that grants the president immunity from the law when working in an “official” capacity, several Democrats are speaking out.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) shared on Monday that the court’s “disgraceful” decision to shield former President Donald Trump’s official acts from prosecution only “enables the former President to weaken our democracy by breaking the law.”
The ruling from the court was a 6-3 decision, with the liberal-leaning justices dissenting from the conservative. The decision will now throw a further wrench into the remaining indictments that the former president is facing over his actions and attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
“This is a sad day for America and a sad day for our democracy. The very basis of our judicial system is that no one is above the law. Treason or incitement of insurrection should not be considered a core constitutional power afforded to a president,” Schumer said.
Schumer also talked about the danger of the recent decisions from the Supreme Court, which he says has undermined its credibility, as many accuse conservative justices of being too partisan in their rulings.
“This decision undermines the credibility of the Supreme Court and suggests that political influence trumps all in our courts today,” Schumer said.
Other Democrats to speak out about the ruling include Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Peter Welch (D-VT), both members of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The Supreme Court has put lawbreaking presidents like Donald Trump above the law. This cravenly political decision to shield President Trump grants him a legal armor that no other citizen enjoys,” Blumenthal said in a statement on X. “My stomach turns with fear & anger that our democracy can be so endangered by an out-of-control Court. The members of the Court’s conservative majority will now be rightly perceived by the American people as extreme & nakedly partisan hacks – politicians in robes.
Welch doubled down on the criticism, saying it “has lost all credibility” and slammed conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito for not recusing themselves from Trump-related cases because of their wives’ political activism or expressions of partisan favor.”