Justice delayed
Make no mistake — the Supreme Court just tipped the scales in favor of former President Donald Trump.
By deciding to hear his outlandish claim of presidential immunity, the justices handed Trump the thing he covets most on a silver (or in his case, probably gold) platter: time.
The court not only decided to take up his appeal, but it also set oral arguments in the case for the week of April 22. That is a full seven weeks from now. So the court’s conservative majority — that Trump helped transform — just gifted him an additional delay that will push back the start of his election subversion trial even further.
This decision leaves wide open the possibility that the American people might not know if they are casting their ballots for a convicted criminal on Election Day. In this scenario, justice delayed could quite literally be justice denied.
And while it is also true (to borrow another legal phrase) that the wheels of justice turn slowly — this very court has shown us it can move quickly when it wants to.
Earlier this year, Trump asked the justices to take up the Colorado case regarding his ballot eligibility. They agreed two days later and scheduled arguments for the following month.
The court had chances to act with similar urgency here. It could have taken up this issue back in December, when special counsel Jack Smith urged the justices to rule on his emergency appeal and keep the trial on schedule. The court could have let the unanimous ruling from a D.C. federal appeals court stand. It could have avoided waiting two weeks to announce it would hear this case.
But it didn’t. And so here we are, facing what may be a harsh but important reality: We cannot bet on the justice system protecting us from the “Day One dictator.”
There will be no Hollywood courtroom finale. Instead, the American people will have to save our democracy themselves. Casting a ballot will be the most powerful antidote to the threat posed by Trump.
Whether or not the election interference trial unfolds before November, we know what Trump tried to do. We watched it happen. And now we can make sure it does not happen again.
A story you should be following: Biden taking the initiative on the border
The southern border was the backdrop for two very different messages this week after both President Joe Biden and Trump held separate events in Texas on the same day.
Their dueling border appearances were the latest in a series of confrontations over what has been a top concern for Americans in 2024. And while Republicans have long held an edge according to polling, the Biden campaign is hoping to at least chip into that lead.
Remember, the president backed a strong border package, which House Republicans rejected at Trump’s behest. As Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker noted recently: “Trump doesn’t want a solution. He wants a campaign slogan.”
Biden attempted to highlight this contrast in approaches on Thursday when he characterized Trump as part of the problem: “The majority of Democrats and Republicans in both houses support this legislation, until someone came along and said, ‘Don’t do that, it’ll benefit the incumbent.’ That’s a hell of a way to do business in America for such a serious problem.”
In line with that message, the Democratic National Committee displayed a mobile billboard in Eagle Pass during Trump’s visit this week that said, in part, Trump “broke the border” as president, “and now for pure politics, he’s killed the bipartisan border deal.”
Whether, or to what extent, the president’s messaging shifts public opinion on his immigration policy is yet to be seen.
But there is no question that going on offense is the right strategy.
Someone you should know: Plestia Alaqad
It’s been nearly half a year since the Israel-Hamas war broke out, and as negotiations for a cease-fire remain uncertain, one thing is clear: The people of Gaza are suffering. The first major food delivery in a month reached northern Gaza this week, as the U.N. warned that at least one-quarter of Gaza’s population is “one step away from famine.”
Meanwhile, Biden announced on Friday that the U.S. will airdrop aid into Gaza, as land deliveries have become increasingly difficult — and even deadly.
22-year-old Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad has been documenting life in Gaza since before the conflict began — first posting videos sharing her native city’s culture, then abruptly shifting to chronicle the terror endured by Gazans on a daily basis.
Plestia Alaqad, a 22-year-old journalist, shares video diaries from her home in Gaza – from hearing distant airstrikes to evacuating as she watched her house burn. https://t.co/z67m6ujgGE pic.twitter.com/8h0HEJ6V4M
— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 14, 2023
From witnessing airstrikes destroy her neighborhood to evacuating her house as she watched it burn, Alaqad’s video diaries serve as a firsthand account of a war in which more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed.
As Alaqad explains it, she didn’t have “time to think” about whether she’d cover the conflict. She simply found herself holding her phone and “trying to do her part” by showing the world what’s happening, she recently told The Washington Post.
You can follow Plestia Alaqad’s updates via her social media accounts on Instagram, TikTok and X at @ByPlestia.
Adrienne Elrod’s weekend routine
What show are you bingeing right now?
Every time I think about a new show I revert back to rewatching, rewatching and rewatching past seasons of “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Nothing makes me laugh harder than Larry David doing his thing. So I am extra happy right now that new episodes are out, and extra sad this is the show’s final season.
What’s the last book you read?
“Chip War” by Chris Miller. It’s an excellent chronological history of the evolution of the semiconductor industry, and it paints a clear picture why the United States must manufacture more highly sophisticated chips here at home. I recently served as director of external and government affairs for the Chips Program Office at the Department of Commerce — the team tasked with implementing President Biden’s Chips and Science Act — and this book was a must-read for any incoming staff.
What time do you wake up on the weekends?
Between 6 and 7 a.m. I am an early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of person, and as freakish as this sounds, it extends into the weekends.
How do you take your coffee?
Plain and black. None of the extra stuff. I think this makes the people at Starbucks very happy.
Jen Psaki is the host of "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" airing Tuesdays through Fridays at 9 p.m. EST. She is the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden.