Alooming Supreme Court ruling could “blow up” coverage of the upcoming debate between President Joe Biden and his rival, former president Donald Trump.
Biden will face Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, for 90 minutes at 9 p.m. on Thursday inside a CNN studio in Atlanta. It comes as the Supreme Court, which has a six-three conservative majority, has days to release a decision on whether Trump is immune from prosecution in the election interference case against him.
Trump has argued that former presidents are immune from prosecution for official acts carried out in office. The justices heard arguments in April, and a decision could come on Thursday or Friday, before the current term ends.
But even if the justices rule that Trump is not immune, a trial in Washington, D.C., may not take place before the November election.
The court is expected to decide on a matter that could upend hundreds of charges stemming from the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, and affect the case against Trump.
CNN analyst Jamal Simmons said a decision in the immunity case would have a major impact on the debate if it was issued on Thursday.
“We might have a Supreme Court decision on Thursday, right?” Simmons said, during a panel on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “A couple of them. And that might blow the entire debate coverage, like, really up.”
Simmons added: “You have a water balloon full of kerosene that lands on this debate that could either happen Thursday. And now they’ve extended it to Friday. Could happen Friday.”
Kaitlan Collins, the show’s host, added: “Yes, the decision on immunity, which will be huge.”
The Trump and Biden campaigns have been contacted for comment via email.
The debate comes just two weeks before Trump is set to be sentenced in his New York hush money trial. He became the former former U.S. president to be convicted of felony crimes in May, when a jury found him guilty of all 34 charges in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor. He has denied wrongdoing.
As well as the federal election interference case in Washington, D.C., Trump is facing charges in two other criminal cases.
He is charged in another federal case with illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida and obstructing the government’s efforts to get them back. Trump is also charged alongside several others with participating in a scheme to illegally try to overturn his narrow loss to Biden in the 2020 election in Georgia.
He has denied any wrongdoing in all of the cases.
Leave a Reply