George Conway, Image via Screengrab / YouTube. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt at the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland on February 21, 2025 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
During a press conference on Thursday, May 22, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News' Garrett Haake that President Donald Trump would be attending a political dinner "in his personal time" — noting that it was "not a White House dinner" and would not be "taking place here."
Leavitt's use of the term "personal time" got the attention of Never Trump conservatives, including attorney George Conway and The Bulwark's Tim Miller (a frequent guest on MSNBC and former GOP strategist).
On X, formerly Twitter, Miller posted, "President's don't get 'personal time.' There's not like a magic suit you wear when you are doing official business and one where you are just Donald from Queens."
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Conway, in response to Miller's tweet, wrote, "Actually, it’s fine. If Trump is saying he's doing something on his 'personal time,' then obviously that means he's not acting within what the Supreme Court calls 'the outer perimeter of his official responsibility,' which, in turn, means he’s not immune from criminal prosecution."
"Outer perimeter of his official responsibility" is a phrase that the U.S. Supreme Court used with its controversial 6-3 ruling in the 2024 case Trump v. the United States.
In that decision, the High Court's right-wing supermajority ruled that a U.S. president enjoys absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for "official" acts committed in office but not for unofficial acts. Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her scathing dissent, warned that according to the ruling's logic, a president could order the assassination of a political rival and claim it was an "official" act.
MeidasTouch's Ron Filipkowski, responding to Conway's tweet, wrote, " Oh s--- what an incredibly great point! Karoline Leavitt just took away his presidential immunity defense."
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Attorney Tracey Gallagher, in response to Conway, tweeted, "If Trump claims he’s acting on his 'personal time,' he's likely implying he’s not operating in an official capacity as president. The Supreme Court, in cases like Trump v. United States (2024), distinguishes between official acts (within the president's constitutional authority) and unofficial acts (personal conduct outside that scope). Official acts may carry immunity from criminal prosecution, while unofficial acts generally don’t. So, by framing something as 'personal time,' he's suggesting it’s an unofficial act, potentially outside the immunity shield."
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