‘He’s guilty’: Trump slammed for demanding ‘total presidential immunity’ in election interference case

PALM BEACH, FLORIDA: Former president Donald Trump has reiterated his demand for "full immunity" in connection to the January 6, 2021, election interference case against him.

The claim was made in a recent post on Truth Social as he seeks protection against the indictments filed against him by Special Counsel Jack Smith in connection with his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to RadarOnline.com.

Notably, this is not the first time Trump has made such a demand, however, it is the first time he has acknowledged that the January 6 riots at the US Capitol three years ago "crossed the line."

The 77-year-old GOP presidential frontrunner also appeared for an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday night, where he started rambling about presidential immunity when asked about his final message to New Hampshire voters ahead of the January 23 caucus.

What did Donald Trump address in his Truth Social post on Thursday?

Donald Trump took to his beleaguered social networking platform, Truth Social, at 2 am on Thursday, January 18, and wrote, “A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES MUST HAVE FULL IMMUNITY, WITHOUT WHICH IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM/HER TO PROPERLY FUNCTION.”

He continued writing in all-caps, “ANY MISTAKE, EVEN IF WELL INTENDED, WOULD BE MET WITH ALMOST CERTAIN INDICTMENT BY THE OPPOSING PARTY AT TERM END.”

“EVEN EVENTS THAT “CROSS THE LINE” MUST FALL UNDER TOTAL IMMUNITY, OR IT WILL BE YEARS OF TRAUMA TRYING TO DETERMINE GOOD FROM BAD. THERE MUST BE CERTAINTY,” he added.

Trump then compared his claimed actions to those of "police doing their job."

In the perplexing analogy, he also seemed to equate himself to a "bad apple" and "rogue cop."

The former president explained, “EXAMPLE: YOU CAN’T STOP POLICE FROM DOING THE JOB OF STRONG & EFFECTIVE CRIME PREVENTION BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GUARD AGAINST THE OCCASIONAL ‘ROGUE COP’ OR ‘BAD APPLE.’”

“SOMETIMES YOU JUST HAVE TO LIVE WITH ‘GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT,’” he argued.

Trump reiterated his desire for "complete and total presidential immunity" as he wrapped up his Truth Social post at two in the morning on Thursday.

He concluded, “ALL PRESIDENTS MUST HAVE COMPLETE & TOTAL PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY, OR THE AUTHORITY & DECISIVENESS OF A PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES WILL BE STRIPPED & GONE FOREVER. HOPEFULLY THIS WILL BE AN EASY DECISION. GOD BLESS THE SUPREME COURT!”

Later in the day, when he appeared for an interview with host Sean Hannity that aired Thursday night on the Fox News network, Trump appeared rumpled and concerned about the criminal cases that were stacked against him.

When asked what his final message to the New Hampshire voters would be, Trump appeared worried about the possibility of losing his presidential immunity case, in which he claimed immunity from prosecution.

Hannity asked, “What is your closing message to the voters of New Hampshire?”

Trump replied, “It’s very simple, it’s Make America Great Again. Before we do this, because you were talking about The Supreme Court, they have two votes that are very important coming up. One, as we discussed, we call it Colorado or whatever, but I really believe they’re going to leave the people to vote.”

He argued, “You’re the leading candidate in both parties, you are leading the Democrats by many points. It's hard to imagine they would do, and most states have already approved it, as you know. Very few states have done that. This is Colorado and a couple others at this moment.”

He continued, “But they have another important, and that’s immunity for the president. The President of the United States -- and I'm not talking about myself, I’m talking about any president, has to have immunity, because if you take immunity away from the president, so important, you will have a president that’s not going to be able to do anything because when he leaves office, the opposing party, president, if it’s the opposing party, will indict the president for doing something that should’ve been good.”

In August 2023, Donald Trump was indicted on federal election interference charges by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

The indictment was made in connection to the 2020 presidential election, which was called in favor of then-candidate Joe Biden.

The charges levied against the former president were four federal criminal counts.

In October of the same year, Trump invoked "absolute immunity" for actions taken while he was still in Office.

The former president argued that he was protected from prosecution for any actions he took while serving as the President of the United States.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on Trump's presidential immunity defense sometime before the federal election interference trial begins in March 2024.

Internet trolls Donald Trump for demanding 'total presidential immunity'

People on X ridiculed former president Donald Trump for coming off as worried in his TV interview and through his Truth social posts despite comfortably leading in the GOP presidential nomination race.

One X user remarked, "If Trump is innocent like he claims, then why does he need immunity?"

Another user said, "Donald Trump is a very scared man, as he should be."

Another user argued, "For 235 years we had Presidents, some good, some bad, who led the country without absolute immunity. The only reason Trump needs it is because he’s guilty and he knows it."

One user wrote, "He desperately wants to be a strongman. we can't let it happen."

Another X user remarked, "Trump is talking about his criminal cases, not how he can improve the lives of hard-working Americans … “Sad!”"

One user tweeted, "Your daily reminder that Donald Trump is only running for President to keep himself out of prison. As always, his neck comes first. His one “public policy” is revenge. That and maybe self-preservation."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.