On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” host Bill Maher stated that while he disagrees with the Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity, the majority opinion does “have a point” and it is a valid worry “that we would become a banana republic,” where the president “is always looking over his shoulder” for fear their successor will prosecute them once they leave.
Maher began by saying, “I think the Supreme Court — I don’t agree with their ruling, but they do have a point, in my view.”
After reading from parts of the majority opinion where Chief Justice Roberts expressed concern that presidents could be constrained in their ability to exercise their power in office due to fear that their successor will prosecute them, Maher said, “That’s not an inconsequential thing to consider that we would become a banana republic, where the guy is always looking over his shoulder.”
Maher then read from Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent, where she raised the possibility that a president could order the military to kill political rivals, order a military coup, and take a bribe for a pardon and be immune and stated, “By the way, all things I could absolutely see Trump doing, if he hasn’t done already.”
Maher further stated, “[T]o me, what it says is, Trump can grab a pussy, as long as it’s on Air Force One.”
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