Former President Donald Trump went on a social media rampage, using all-caps posts to emphasize his claim of “absolute immunity” following a hearing in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday. During the hearing, Trump’s attorney, John Lauro, argued for presidential immunity, even suggesting that a president could order Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival without facing prosecution unless impeached and convicted first.
After the hearing, Trump and Lauro spoke to reporters, with Trump making statements riddled with falsehoods. The coverage on CNN and MSNBC reportedly cut out due to the misleading nature of Trump’s remarks. Despite this, Trump expressed confidence in his defense and claimed it was “a very good day.”
Later on Truth Social, Trump unleashed a series of all-caps posts addressing his claim of immunity:
- “WITHOUT IMMUNITY, IT WOULD BE VERY HARD FOR A PRESIDENT TO ENJOY HIS OR HER ‘GOLDEN YEARS’ OF RETIREMENT. THEY WOULD BE UNDER SIEGE BY RADICAL, OUT OF CONTROL PROSECUTORS, MUCH LIKE I AM, BUT WITHOUT THE RETIREMENT!!!”
- “IF THEY TAKE AWAY MY IMMUNITY, THEY TAKE AWAY CROOKED JOE BIDEN’S IMMUNITY. WITHOUT IMMUNITY, IT WOULD BE VERY HARD FOR A PRESIDENT TO PROPERLY FUNCTION!”
- “IF A PRESIDENT DOES NOT HAVE IMMUNITY, THE COURT WILL BE ‘OPENING THE FLOODGATES’ TO PROSECUTING FORMER PRESIDENTS. AN OPPOSING HOSTILE PARTY WILL BE DOING IT FOR ANY REASON, ALL OF THE TIME!”
Trump’s argument and his social media posts sparked widespread derision, particularly regarding the extreme nature of the immunity claim and its potential implications for future presidential accountability.
