A thought exercise:

Think of a leader of a country who is infamous for using military force to suppress opposition and even execute political rivals.
I’m guessing your first thought was not that a U.S. president would assert a right to kill his political opponent.

But, while it may sound extreme, that is in fact exactly where we are.

Last week — in court over Donald Trump’s illegal attempts to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election — his lawyers argued (with a straight face) that the former president would be immune from criminal prosecution even if he ordered one of our nation’s most elite military units to assassinate his leading political rival.

I’m not making this up. If you haven’t seen it in the news already, look it up online.

Now, I know that words like “unprecedented” and “shocking” start to lose their meaning when it comes to Donald Trump. There is a strong temptation to tune it all out, to move on, to hope he just goes away somehow.

But if we don’t want to succumb to authoritarian forces, we simply must not allow ourselves to become numb or indifferent.

So, today, I’m asking you to join me in a statement that should be unnecessary but is actually essential:

The Constitution of the United States does NOT give the president — not Donald Trump, not anyone — absolute criminal immunity for murder. The fact that Donald Trump thinks it does, and that he had a lawyer say that on his behalf on the record in a court of law, is all the more evidence that he must be held accountable for his crimes against the American people and our democracy.

Click to add your name now if you agree.

Thanks for taking action.

For justice and democracy,

- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen
 
 
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