In the interest of our democracy, we cannot prematurely capitulate to Donald Trump

There was an understandably apocalyptic Reaction to Monday’s Supreme Court ruling. People are rightly appalled at the idea that the President of the United States can now act with near-total impunity when his conduct can be described as an “official act.” It is an idea that runs counter to the fundamental values ​​of this country’s history.

But there is something we must keep in mind as the battle to preserve American democracy takes another dark turn: Those of us who believe in the fundamental principles of liberal democracy and the American experiment cannot give in too quickly to the worst impulses and machinations of those who would destroy it. And that means we must not surrender to the idea that if Donald Trump is re-elected, this automatically means the end of democracy as we know it.

I know the stakes are very high. I have no illusions about what Trump, the right, and the entire Republican Party would do to our democracy if given the chance. But I also refuse to admit that worst-case scenario in advance. We are still a constitutional republic. We, the people, still have a say in what we accept and what we don’t. It is up to us to say what this society looks like and what democracy looks like.

While six Supreme Court zealots claim that the president can be virtually immune from any corruption offense, this country still has the rule of law, and we Americans can still tell right from wrong, even in the worst cases.

To take the oft-cited example, this decision could well mean that Trump would have immunity from trial if he ordered SEAL Team Six to murder someone—that’s how the court’s liberals put it in their dissents. And this conservative majority may agree, but that doesn’t make such an order legal, let alone right.

Almost 150 years ago, the Posse Comitatus Act made it possible illegal for the president to unilaterally arm federal troops to intervene in civilian affairs. The court’s ruling does not overturn this law.

Everyone understands that it would be a crime if SEAL Team Six were to assassinate a political rival for personal reasons. Murder. We all know that; it would be an illegal order. And we have reason to hope that in such a situation the guard rails will remain in place.

In 2022, Trump’s Secretary of Defense Mark Esper spoke on CBS’s “60 Minutes” about how the then-president wanted to unleash the military on protesters two years earlier:

“He’s finally going to give the direct order to send paratroopers into the streets of Washington, D.C., and I think with guns and bayonets, and that would be terrible,” Esper said. “He says, ‘Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?’ And he’s suggesting that we should do that, that we should bring in the troops and shoot the protesters.”

This did not happen – not because anyone knew about Trump’s potential criminal risk – but because everyone around him, including Esper, knew that this was illegal and wrong.

Given the many terrible consequences of the Supreme Court’s immunity decision, we must ensure that the constitutional culture in this country is strong enough to rein in the worst impulses of a potential second Trump administration. I know that may sound naive, and I know there are many people who disagree. But if Trump wins another term, the Mark Espers of the world must refuse to give in to his worst impulses. We must reinforce the notion that we are the Constitution, not the president.

But to admit up front that Trump now has the freedom to end American democracy as a whole is like giving him permission to do so. And I, for one, refuse to give him that permission.

This is an adapted excerpt from the episode from July 2nd from “All in with Chris Hayes”

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com.