US President Joe Biden has said that he “can’t think of one” former president who should be immune from criminal prosecution. His comment came after the Supreme Court declined to hear a case that would have decided whether former President Donald Trump could be tried for instigating the 2021 Capitol Hill riot.
Asked by a reporter whether “any president at all” should be shielded from criminal charges, Biden replied on Saturday that he “can’t think of one.”
One day earlier, the US Supreme Court rejected a petition by government prosecutor Jack Smith to fast-track a decision on whether Trump could be tried over a speech he gave to his supporters before the January 6, 2021 riot on Capitol Hill. Prior to the incident, Trump told his followers to “fight like hell” against Biden’s electoral victory, which Congress was certifying that day.
Smith alleges that Trump’s speech – during which the then-president also encouraged his supporters to demonstrate “peacefully and patriotically” – provoked the riot. Smith charged Trump in August with conspiracy to defraud the US, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.