THIS WON'T SCARE THE VOTERS BIDEN NEEDS

Greg Sargent, who's now at The New Republic, worries about what will happen to America if the courts conclude that Donald Trump really does have broad immunity for his actions as president:

... a favorable decision could ... unshackle Trump in a big way.... If [courts] accept Trump’s broad version of immunity or something like it, he might argue that future potentially criminal acts also fall within that perimeter.

Sounds scary. But then Sargent explains precisely how scary it might be:

For instance, could a victorious President Trump urge the FBI to investigate Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis, who has also criminally charged Trump, and order the seizure of documents related to those charges to sabotage her effort?

... Or in the 2026 battle over the Senate, could President Trump threaten elections officials with prosecution while pressuring them to “find” votes in a decisive contest?

Unlike Sargent, I'm not worried that a grant of immunity will embolden Trump to prosecute his prosecutors in a second term. Trump is going to do that anyway, even if the courts grant him no new powers. He absolutely will politicize the Justice Department and use it to gain revenge on his enemies. That's an argument for not letting Trump anywhere near the Oval Office ever again, not an argument against immunity specifically.

What about pressuring state and local election officials to "find" Republican votes in the 2026 election? I don't think that will happen, for one reason: Trump is the most narcissistic human being who ever lived, and he won't be on the ballot in 2026. Why would he cheat on behalf on behalf of candidates who aren't him? That's just not his nature.

Sargent quotes Kristy Parker, a lawyer at Protect Democracy:

“Trump has threatened to use the presidency to punish enemies, reward friends, and protect himself,” Parker told me. “If the courts recognize immunity for the broad array of official acts of the presidency, that will incentivize Trump to abuse those powers further.”

Sargent hopes this prospect alarms voters. I worry that it alarms only voters who've already made up their minds to oppose Trump. For fence-sitters, the vast majority of whom aren't very political, this isn't very worrisome. They're not Trump's enemies, and they already assume that ordinary politicians routinely reward their friends and protect themselves. They don't care what happens to Fani Willis, for instance, as long as gas prices are low.

Swing voters will need more compelling reasons than this to vote against Biden. This won't scare them, even if Trump does get his immunity.