MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell on Wednesday trashed Donald Trump’s claim of total presidential immunity and explained why the former president likely doesn’t think it’s true himself.
“As stupid as Donald Trump is, he is not stupid enough to believe everything that Donald Trump says,” said O’Donnell.
A federal appeals court this week rejected Trump’s claim to have absolute immunity for potential criminal acts he committed while president.
O’Donnell argued that had Trump truly believed in presidential immunity, then the final days of his presidency could have taken a much more sinister turn.
“If Donald Trump thought presidential immunity from criminal prosecution existed while he was president, he would have not have been so polite with Vice President Mike Pence in begging him to overturn the presidential election,” said O’Donnell. Pence ultimately opted for democracy over his then-boss, despite pressure from Trump to flip the result.
Trump would “have by late morning of Jan.6 put a bullet in Mike Pence’s head thereby automatically moving up president pro tem of the Senate, who was Chuck Grassley, to preside over the electoral vote count and Chuck Grassley would have absolutely counted those votes any way Donald Trump told him to,” he added.
Watch O’Donnell’s analysis here:
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