BBC Host Calls for Biden to ‘Have Trump Murdered’ After SCOTUS Presidential Immunity Decision

David Aaronovitch at the BBC News and Sport Festival 2007 (Jeff Overs/BBC News & Curre
Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs via Getty
Olivia Rondeau

BBC host David Aaronovitch is facing backlash for saying that President Joe Biden should “have Trump murdered” following the United States Supreme Court’s ruling that presidents are covered by limited prosecutorial immunity.

The British presenter, who hosts Radio 4’s The Briefing Room, made the controversial statement in a since-deleted X post on Monday.

“If I was Biden I’d hurry up and have Trump murdered on the basis that he is a threat to America’s security #SCOTUS,” Aaronovitch wrote. 

He removed the post about 90 minutes later, blaming a “far right pile on”:

“There’s now a far right pile on suggesting that my tweet about the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity is an incitement to violence when it’s plainly a satire,” Aaronovitch wrote. “So I’m deleting it. If nothing else though it’s given me a map of some [of] the daftest people on this site.”

GB News political commentator Alex Armstrong — who has also appeared on BBC — accused the liberal presenter of “backtracking” and asked if his “handlers” made him take down the original post:

Aaronovitch dodged the question, replying, “Ooh Alex. Tell me about my ‘handlers.'”

He then doubled down on his critics in a follow-up post, claiming they’re from a “subculture”:

“Incidentally an anthropologist might find it interesting to examine the hashtags, bios and tweet histories of those who have been attacking me on here today. They reveal a rather extraordinary sub-culture,” the BBC host wrote.

Aaronovitch’s employer has made no public statement in regards to his post or the subsequent backlash. 

SCOTUS’s Monday 6-3 decision in favor of former President Donald Trump found that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for “official acts,” Breitbart News reported. 

The justices also ruled that a president is entitled to a pretrial hearing on immunity that can be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court before a trial begins. 

This means that any trial of the former president will likely take place after the upcoming election. 

In a celebratory post on Truth social, Trump called the decision a “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY.”

“PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN,” he added, in all capital letters. 

Meanwhile, Joe Biden’s campaign and other Democrat leaders have denounced the decision, saying it does not “change the facts” of Trump’s alleged crimes. 

“Today’s ruling doesn’t change the facts, so let’s be very clear about what happened on January 6: Donald Trump snapped after he lost the 2020 election and encouraged a mob to overthrow the results of a free and fair election,” a senior Biden campaign official claimed in a statement:

“Trump is already running for president as a convicted felon for the very same reason he sat idly by while the mob violently attacked the Capitol: he thinks he’s above the law and is willing to do anything to gain and hold onto power for himself,” the official added.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) also bashed the decision, claiming it came from a “rogue” court:

“Today, the Supreme Court has gone rogue with its decision, violating the foundational American principle that no one is above the law,” the former House speaker wrote. “The former president’s claim of total presidential immunity is an insult to the vision of our founders, who declared independence from a King.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called the SCOTUS ruling “disgraceful”:

“This disgraceful decision by the MAGA SCOTUS—which is comprised of 3 justices appointed by Trump himself—enables the former President to weaken our democracy by breaking the law,” the Senate Majority Leader claimed. 

“It undermines SCOTUS’s credibility and suggests political influence trumps all in our courts today,” he added.

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