SCOTUS: Trump has 'Absolute Immunity' on Official Acts

SCOTUS: Trump has 'Absolute Immunity' on Official Acts
Image copyright: Anna Moneymaker/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-Trump narrative

As Trump already knew, the president can't be prosecuted for carrying out acts that are within the executive branch powers granted to him in the Constitution. So now everyone knows this, and the special counsel's case will be dead on arrival at the lower court. Trump did nothing wrong and the special counsel was enlisted to do nothing more than hurt the former president's current campaign.

Anti-Trump narrative

SCOTUS, with its conservative majority powered by three Trump nominees, has now guaranteed that no president — including Trump in a potential second term — will have any legal checks against potential criminal behavior. In effect, SCOTUS granted immunity beyond even what Trump's lawyers argued he had. This could push the US toward dictatorship.

Metaculus Prediction


Public Figures


Articles on this story

Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters
Sign Up for Our Free Newsletters

Sign Up!
Sign Up Now!