(Fox News) Former President Trump warned of the consequences of losing his presidential immunity argument, saying that if he loses that protection, so will “crooked” President Joe Biden.
The former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee argued that presidential immunity is essential to the proper functioning of the presidency in a Friday post to his Truth Social account.
“Without presidential immunity, it would be impossible for a president to properly function, putting the United States of America in great and everlasting danger!” he posted, in all capital letters. “If they take away my presidential immunity, they take away crooked Joe Biden’s presidential immunity.”
The Supreme Court of the United States is expected to hear arguments on presidential immunity Thursday, and eventually rule on whether Trump is immune from prosecution on charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s election interference investigation.
Trump pleaded not guilty to charges brought by Smith, and has claimed presidential immunity.
Former President Donald Trump attends the first day of his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on April 15, 2024. (Angela Weiss/AFP via AP, POOL)
Trump said that without immunity from prosecution, the presidency “will lose its power and prestige, and under some leaders, have no power at all.”
“The Presidency will be consumed by the other Branches of Government. That is not what our founders wanted!” he wrote.
In another post, Trump argued that if a president does not have immunity, “the Opposing Party, during his/her term in Office, can extort and blackmail the President by saying that, ‘if you don’t give us everything we want, we will Indict you for things you did while in Office,’ even if everything done was totally Legal and Appropriate.”
“That would be the end of the Presidency, and our Country, as we know it, and is just one of the many Traps there would be for a President without Presidential Immunity,” Trump posted.
Pointing to his presidential predecessors, and 2020 and 2024 opponent Biden, Trump said: “Obama, Bush, and soon, Crooked Joe Biden, would all be in BIG TROUBLE.”
President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at the Martin Luther King Recreation Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“If a President doesn’t have IMMUNITY, he/she will be nothing more than a ‘Ceremonial’ President, rarely having the courage to do what has to be done for our Country,” Trump continued, calling for the protection of presidential immunity. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
Trump added that if immunity is not granted to a president, “every president that leaves office will be immediately indicted by the opposing party.”
“Without complete immunity, a president of the United States would not be able to properly function,” he said again.
Trump posted about the issue on his Truth Social platform while he sat in a New York City courtroom for day four of his criminal trial stemming from charges brought against him by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
