After getting cut down to size as "citizen Trump" by the three-judge appeals panel denying him absolute immunity from committing crimes — former President Donald Trump is pushing false narratives that the ruling weakens the presidency.
During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell, former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade explained that nothing that came out to the D.C. Court of Appeals was a "surprise" because they were "simply restating a law, as we have always known it."
Earlier today, Trump beat the innocence drum on Truth Social that the decision (which he has vowed to appeal) does indelible harm to the office.
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"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," Trump said. "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."
He then plays judge and jury to decide former presidents Obama, Bush, and "Crooked Joe Biden" are all guilty of something and "would all be in PRISON."
McQuade calls this out as another con by the Don.
"What Donald Trump is doing is engaging in disinformation," she said. "He is suggesting to the public that what the court has done is something very radical, that is now eroding a power that existed before yesterday, and that now, presidents have lost the power to be able to govern in this country without the fear and the chilling effect that it would have to now face some sort of accountability that they did not face before."
Last month, Trump declared on social media that even presidential acts that “CROSS THE LINE” must be given “TOTAL IMMUNITY” from prosecution.
In fact, McQuade points out the obvious that only one person appears to be unable to grasp: that a "president was not above the law, and that they could be charged with crimes."
"Donald Trump is the only one suggesting that this was different, and that this is something new; but for people who don't know better. they will read that, and they will fall for that con."
