The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said for the first time that former presidents have broad immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts.
But what does that mean to voters? Does anyone care?
Apparently, not many do.
Monday, in another landmark ruling, Supreme Court justices ruled 6-3 that Trump cannot be prosecuted for any actions that were within his constitutional powers as president.
The decision threw out a lower court’s decision that rejected Trump’s claim that he shouldn’t be prosecuted for federal criminal charges involving his efforts to undo the 2020 election results.
WPTV reporter Kate Hussey took to the streets of downtown Fort Pierce, the location of Trump’s classified documents trial, to ask people of all ages and backgrounds how they felt about the ruling.
“What is that?” asked Raul Morales, when we asked about his opinion.
“Did you know there was a Supreme Court ruling today?” asked Hussey.
“Not at all,” Morales said.
Morales was clearly confused, but so were 17 out of the 18 voters that WPTV interviewed Monday.
They had no idea about the court’s opinion that Trump has some immunity from prosecution for his actions while in office.
“Did you know there was a Supreme Court decision?” Hussey asked voter Kalid Afifi.
“Nope,” said Afifi.
“I didn’t even know they were making a decision today about anything,” voter Amethyst Fade said.
“Yeah, I had no idea either,” said Brittany Smith.
“What was the decision?” asked Fade.
Once we told Fade and Smith about the ruling, they didn’t really care, and that was the case for two-thirds of the people that WPTV talked to.
“It’s hard to care, it’s hard to care and stay informed because you feel like you get beat over the head,” Fade said.
“Sometimes, it’s just like, here we go again,” Morales said.
“Are you getting tired of constantly hearing about this?” Hussey asked Afifi.
“Yes, yes,” replied Afifi.
Afifi is an Egyptian immigrant who tries to stay as informed as possible on current events. He knows quite a bit about politics, but even he didn’t know about this ruling, nor how many cases Trump is on trial for.
“How many trials is Trump facing right now, do you know?” asked Hussey.
“I heard maybe like, 19, or something like that?” said Afifi.
The correct answer is four, but to Afifi’s credit, most of the others we talked to didn’t know either.
“You’re just so burned out on it that you don’t even focus on it anymore,” Morales said.
Everyone told WPTV that they’re tired of hearing about politics and presidential trials, which only makes them more frustrated.
“I’m burned out, yeah,” Fade said. “I would say that we just have fatigue in general with our political climate.”
“For the sake of this country, why should I go right or left? Why did you not give me any options?” asked Afifi.
That burnout only appears to be building, now four months away from Election Day.
“At this point is there anything either party could do to restore your faith in politics?” asked Hussey.
“Absolutely not,” Fade said.
“No, we need to wipe the slate clean,” added Smith.
To be clear, voters who told us they don’t care said it’s not that they don’t care about this country and its future, but they simply don’t care about this specific decision.
They also told WPTV that’s because they feel their voices won’t be heard either way and don’t like the choices they have representing their voices.
Many voters told Hussey they don’t know who they’re going to vote for come Election Day, and many others said they may not vote at all.