'Straightforward dictatorship': CNN panel thrashes Trump's 'total immunity' claims

A CNN panel on Friday warned that former President Donald Trump's claims that presidents should get "total immunity" from criminal prosecution would inevitably result in a dictatorship.

After reading Trump's Thursday Truth Social post where he said that he deserved complete immunity even if he "crossed the line" into illegal behavior, host Phil Mattingly suggested that Trump was telegraphing that he was "going to do some criming" if reelected.

He then turned to panelist Errol Louis, who outlined the dark implications of Trump's argument.

"It's a pretty straightforward statement of what dictatorship is, right? he said. "A president -- in his case he is talking about himself -- should be able to, must be able to legally do with legal impunity do whatever it is he or she wants."

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Louis said that the statement should "sound a sense of alarm" given that "you cannot have a major party candidate saying at the top of his lungs... the president can do whatever he wants."

Former Republican pollster Lee Carter, who frequently tries to spin Trump's outlandish statements in his favor, acknowledged that "I can't really defend he should be able to do anything, and I understand that's playing right into the dictator argument."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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