The leader of conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation argued the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity will reinforce a “second American Revolution,” which he said would “remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts told Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast how the Supreme Court ruling on immunity — which largely shields former presidents from criminal prosecutions for actions in office — should encourage conservatives.
“In spite of all this nonsense from the left, we are going to win. We’re in the process of taking this country back. No one in the audience should be despairing,” Roberts said, adding, “And in spite of all of the injustice, which, of course, friends and audience of this show, of our friend Steve know, we are going to prevail.”
“We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” he added later.
Calling the Supreme Court ruling “vital,” Roberts pointed to Alexander Hamilton’s 1877 essay Federalist No. 70, in which he argued for a strong executive leader.
“You know, former congressman, the importance of Congress doing its job, but we also know the importance of the executive being able to do his job,” Roberts told former Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.), who hosted the podcast episode, with Bannon having reported to prison this week. “And can you imagine, Dave Brat, any president — put politics off to the side — any president having to second-guess, triple-guess every decision they’re making in their official capacity, you couldn’t have the republic that you just described.”
Robert’s Heritage Foundation is the moving force behind Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for a possible Trump reelection in November. The nearly 1,000-page handbook is aimed at advancing right-wing policies and expanding the powers of the presidency.
Authors describe Project 2025 as a guide of what the next president needs to do to undo the “damage” to America they argue is caused by liberal politicians. Critics of Project 2025 call it authoritarian and “un-American.”
Roberts later expanded upon his argument, stating the “second American Revolution” is to take “power back from the elites and despotic bureaucrats.”
“These patriots are committed to peaceful revolution at the ballot box. Unfortunately, it’s the Left that has a long history of violence, so it’s up to them to allow a peaceful transfer of power,” Roberts wrote in a statement to The Hill, pointing to alleged weaponization of government agencies and what he described as “violent riots” in 2020.
The Supreme Court handed down the 6-3 decision Monday, ruling along ideological lines that presidents have absolute immunity for actions that fall within the core responsibilities of the office and are “at least presumptively immune” for all other official acts.
The decision was applauded by Republicans as a win for Trump, who is staring down a federal criminal election subversion case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. The decision is likely to delay the trial, first sending the case back to a lower court to decide if Trump’s actions surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, are protected from criminal prosecution for decisions made while in the White House.
Several Democrats, meanwhile, lambasted the decision, arguing it will embolden future presidents to break the law with impunity. The Democrats have long argued that, under the Constitution, no one — not even the president — is above the law.
By ruling that Trump is protected from prosecution for certain actions, the Supreme Court violated the intentions of the nation’s founders, the Democratic critics said this week.
Updated at 2:44 p.m. EDT