The President of the United States has shared a fake, AI-generated video depicting the arrest and imprisonment of his predecessor, Barack Obama. This is not a bizarre social media moment to be dismissed. It is a grave and unprecedented act that crosses a sacred, unwritten line in our constitutional order, representing a direct threat to the norm that has ensured the peaceful transfer of power for over 200 years.

This act, more than any policy or speech, is a litmus test for the health of our republic. It forces us to confront a fundamental question: Is the American system of justice a tool for the impartial application of the law, or is it a weapon to be wielded by the victor against their political enemies? The answer will define the future of our democracy.

The Norm Against Prosecuting Predecessors

For more than two centuries, American presidents have honored a crucial, unwritten constitutional norm: they do not use the power of the state to prosecute the leaders of the administration they replaced.

This tradition, most famously exemplified by President Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon, was not born from a lack of potential crimes, but from a profound understanding that the stability of the republic depends on it.

This guardrail exists to prevent the United States from devolving into the kind of unstable “banana republic” where each new leader imprisons the old. It ensures that the transfer of power is peaceful, not just physically, but politically.

It allows a former president to re-enter civic life without the fear that their every official act will be criminalized by their successor. President Trump’s post, and his broader calls to jail political opponents, is a direct assault on this foundational principle.

The Weaponization of “Justice”

The video of a fake Obama arrest does not exist in a vacuum. It is the propaganda arm of a broader, systematic campaign to normalize the idea of political retribution. It comes as the President’s Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, refers former Obama officials for prosecution over what she calls a “treasonous conspiracy,” and as the President himself floats the idea of imprisoning Senator Adam Schiff.

This is a coordinated effort to redefine the purpose of the Department of Justice. It seeks to transform it from an instrument of impartial law enforcement into a weapon for the President to use against his enemies.

The constitutional duty of the President under the Take Care Clause is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” This new model of governance twists that duty, suggesting the law should be “faithfully executed” only against those who oppose the President.

The Irony of Presidential Immunity

This call to prosecute a predecessor is made all the more constitutionally fraught by the President’s own relationship with the law. This is the same administration that has championed a recent Supreme Court ruling granting presidents broad immunity from prosecution for their “official acts.”

This creates a profound constitutional contradiction. The President appears to be demanding a legal framework that functions as both a shield for himself and a sword against his enemies. The rule of law, however, cannot survive such a double standard.

The principle of “equal justice under law,” engraved on the front of the Supreme Court, means that the same rules must apply to everyone, regardless of their political power. A system that protects one president while prosecuting another is, by definition, not a system of law, but one of raw political power.

The AI-generated video is more than a crude meme; it is a glimpse into a potential future. It is a future where the peaceful transfer of power is no longer guaranteed, where former presidents are not safe from the vengeance of their successors, and where the rule of law is replaced by the rule of the victor.

The framers designed our entire constitutional system to prevent this very outcome. The President’s post is a direct attempt to crack that foundation.