MAGAReport for 7/2/2024- The SCOTUS immunity edition

Today: a surprisingly mixed take on the SCOTUS immunity decision + no organized plans for violence or demonstration

Yesterday, after SCOTUS announced their Presidential immunity decision, I watched the discussion roll in on the MAGA forums. I expected uniform glee and mockery of the other side, and while there is plenty of that, I was surprised to see a lot mixed reaction. To be sure, everyone seems happy that this is a win for Trump, but there are a number of concerned takes.

Before we get into those, please remember that the legal sophistication on these forums is extremely poor, but the confidence level is high. I’m going to tell you what the discussions are, but don’t mistake it for agreement with their legal analysis.

1. There has been a long-running fantasy about how, once Trump returns to office, they are going to prosecute Biden for all of the “crimes” he committed while in office. But now, since they see this ruling as allowing a President to do anything they want while in office, they see that chance for retribution on Biden slipping away.

“It’s going to be real awesome when we can’t go after Biden like he deserves because of this ruling. Does very little for us, does a lot for democrats. Thanks a bunch, SCOTUS.”

“Even if the GOP had the balls to do it [go after Biden], we can’t now. Completely neutered.”

2. They understand that if this ruling lets a President do anything they want while in office, that Biden could also do that. Some worry what that means for the rest of the term.

Just considering the "how can this be used against us" angle, does it mean if Biden said "ok Army, go kill all Republicans", he then could not be charged for anything because it's just him doing "official business"? (disregarding how an order like that would, in all practical sense, never happen...we hope)

Please do not only look into the future

Let's not forget that whatever benefit you think this has to trump, it also means Biden now has that benefit for the remainder of his presidency, the people controlling him do anyway....

3. There was a long debate around this comment:

…It's also HUGE for his potential second term. There are a LOT of things he could do and use this as a shield from the left trying to punish him. I think he'll still need to ignore courts and/or suspend constitution/rights to accomplish what's needed, though. But he can't be punished for doing that now.

Half the people who replied to this were basically saying “yeah, Trump needs to do what will be done” while the other half said “how could you possibly think that Trump would do something that goes against the constitution??” This is a pretty representative exchange in a long chain of them.

• You aren't from around these parts, are you?

  President Trump would never consider shitting on the Constitution.

  You've obviously missed the part where he isn't a commie piece of shit.

  • Then we'll lose. Do you not see that a second 'first term' would be a loss? Yeah, it's great to own the supreme court, but they hurt us as often as they help us. It's not enough. The deep state and courts torpedoed half or more of Trump's objectives in the first term, and most of those weren't even as extreme as they should've been. No way we'll ever see the FBI or DoE dissolved if we obey the courts, not in a single term. And if a Dem is elected in 2028, they'll cancel out everything he tried to do.

    • You’re absolutely correct and it surprises me that the “cross the rubicon” folks here are against that idea of taking back the country by force. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Are we forgetting that Lincoln pushed the bounds of his power in order to crush the south in the civil war? If we’re not prepared to fight fire with fire then Trump’s last term will be no different from his first. He’ll rule through executive orders that get reversed the second he leaves office. This is why our side loses. We’re not ready to do what is necessary.

The mix of authoritarianism and delusion about Trump’s constitutional wholesomeness in this thread was quite the contrast. It’s also rare to see the MAGA supporters spinning out implications like this. That said, the overwhelming sentiment is celebration that this is good for Trump and his next term.

Beyond that, the discussions are the usual right-wing rage bait, and there are no organized plans for violence or demonstration.