We cannot give Donald Trump permission to end American democracy

July 3, 2024, 9:40 PM UTC

By Chris Hayes

The Supreme Court’s decision has provoked an understandably apocalyptic reaction. People are rightly horrified by the idea that the president of the United States can now act with criminal impunity if his behavior can be characterized as an official act. “It’s an idea that goes against the core values ​​of this country’s history.

But there is one thing we must keep in mind as the fight to preserve American democracy takes a dark new turn: Those of us who believe in the fundamentals of liberal democracy and the American experiment cannot prematurely yield to the worst impulses and machinations of those who would destroy it. And that means not giving in to the idea that if Donald Trump is reelected, it will automatically be the end of democracy as we know it.

Those of us who believe in the fundamental principles of liberal democracy and the American experiment cannot capitulate prematurely.

I know the stakes are extremely high. I have no illusions about what Trump, the right, and the entire Republican Party would do to our democracy if given the chance. But I also refuse to accept the worst-case scenario in advance. We are still a constitutional republic. We, the people, still have a say in what we will and will not accept. It is up to us to decide what this society looks like and what democracy looks like.

Six Supreme Court zealots may say that the president can get away with a number of corrupt acts, but the rule of law still exists in this country. And we Americans always know right from wrong, even in the worst cases.

To return to the oft-cited example, this decision could very well mean that Trump would enjoy immunity from prosecution if he ordered SEAL Team Six to assassinate someone—the liberal justices said as much in their dissenting opinions. And this conservative majority might agree that that is the case, but that does not make such an order legal and certainly does not make it right.

Nearly 150 years ago, the Posse Comitatus Act prohibited the president from unilaterally using federal troops to intervene in civil matters. The Supreme Court’s decision does not erase that law.

Everyone understands that asking SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival for personal reasons would be murder. We all understand that it would be an illegal order. And we have reason to hope that in this situation, the safeguards will remain in place.

In 2022, Trump's Defense Secretary Mark Esper explained on CBS's 60 Minutes how, two years earlier, the then-president wanted to unleash the military on protesters:

“He's finally going to give a direct order to deploy paratroopers into the streets of Washington, D.C., and I think with guns and bayonets, that would be horrible,” Esper said. “He's saying can't we just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something? And he's suggesting that's what we should do, that we should bring in the troops and shoot the protesters.

We need to reinforce the idea that we answer to the Constitution, not to the president.

This didn't happen because we were aware of Trump's potential criminal exposure, but because everyone around him, including Esper, knew it was illegal and wrong.

In the face of the many terrifying consequences of the Supreme Court’s decision on immunity, we must work to ensure that the constitutional culture of this country is strong enough to contain the worst impulses of a possible second Trump administration. I know this may sound naïve, and many people will disagree with me. But if Trump wins another term, we need the Mark Espers of this world to refuse to indulge his worst impulses. We must reinforce the idea that we answer to the Constitution, not to the president.

But to admit in advance that Trump is now free to end American democracy as a whole is to give him permission to do so. And I, for one, refuse to give it to him.

This is an excerpt adapted from the July 2 episode of All In with Chris Hayes

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