The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has handed down a decision in a case brought by the former and likely future President Donald Trump. It marked a victory for Trump because the court has mostly followed his legal team and recognized – or created – a practically impregnable wall of legal immunity around him. Or to be precise, around Trump’s actions during his time as the 45th American president between January 2017 and January 2021. This will serve to shield him from accusations pending in a lower, federal court, that he effectively tried to stage a quiet coup when voted out of office in November 2020, which peaked with a mob storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

The immediate fallout of SCOTUS coming down on the side of Trump and his ongoing and thriving campaign to recapture the presidency is obvious. At the very least, the court’s decision has delayed the attempt to prosecute the former president for his response to losing the 2020 election. And, in this situation, stalling is very likely to be the same as stopping. If Trump wins, as is likely, he will snuff out whatever remains of the case against him. His main interest is that no conviction can be reached before the election, and that is now certain.

Apart from these direct effects, everyone agrees that this is a decision of lasting, even historic significance. Beyond that, however, disagreement prevails. Not just disagreement but, as so often is the case in the US now, fierce antagonism, with two sides of America facing each other in absolute distrust and even contempt.

Take for instance the reaction on Bannon’s War Room, the YouTube channel run by Steve Bannon, the longstanding media impresario of far-right populism, former Trump adviser, and currently would-be ideologue-in-chief of a “Christian nationalism” grassroots movement that he promises will make Trump look moderate.

On Bannon’s show, the SCOTUS verdict was hailed as saving the office of president and therefore the whole country from “destruction.” President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party, meanwhile, were........

© RT.com