Biden says US presidents can be subject to criminal prosecution

US President Joe Biden has said that he “can’t think of one” reason presidents should receive absolute immunity from prosecution, as Republican frontrunner Donald Trump has claimed.

Biden made the comment in response to a reporter’s question on December 23 before departing the White House for Camp David, where he will spend Christmas. The Supreme Court on December 22 declined to fast-track a decision on Trump’s immunity case, according to Bloomberg. 

The justices’ decision hampered federal prosecutors’ efforts to start Trump’s trial on charges related to his attempts to overturn the 2020 election. The former president argues he was acting within his official duties during the lead-up to the January 6, 2021 riot, in which his supporters violently stormed the US Capitol in an attempt to prevent lawmakers from certifying Biden’s victory. 

The trial is scheduled to begin March 4 and Special Counsel Jack Smith sought to speed the matter to the nation’s highest court to ensure the start date. 

Biden said on December 20 that Trump “certainly supported an insurrection” on January 6, though he declined to endorse a Colorado Supreme Court decision that would bar the former president from the ballot in the state. “That’s up to the court,” Biden said.