President Joe Biden on Friday called Donald Trump’s guilty verdict a confirmation that “no one is above the law” and said it was “reckless” and “irresponsible” that his opponent and fellow Republicans were attacking the results and the justice system writ large.
“Our justice system has endured for nearly 250 years, and it literally is the cornerstone of America, our justice system,” Biden said from the White House State Dining Room. “The justice system should be respected. And we should never let never allow anyone to tear it down.”
Biden’s comments marked his first public response since the former president was found guilty Thursday evening on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star. The president’s brief response came ahead of his remarks on the Middle East, as his administration works to secure a hostage deal with Hamas, and Israel confirmed its forces have entered central Rafah.
The president spoke shortly after his opponent held a rambling morning press conference in Trump Tower in New York City. Biden’s speech was added to his public schedule at the last minute on Friday, in what appeared to be an opportunity for the president to implicitly draw a contrast with Trump: That he was focused on pressing foreign policy crises, while Trump was focused on his own grievances.
Biden used the beginning of his speech to address the verdict in a formal setting — an intentional effort to demonstrate the president’s statement was not political in nature. He talked about the verdict for two minutes, zeroing in on attacks against the country’s justice system.
“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed. Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself. It was a state case, not a federal case, and it was heard by a jury of 12 citizens, 12 Americans, 12 people like you. Like millions of Americans who served on juries, this jury was chosen the same way every jury in America is chosen,” Biden said. “Now he’ll be given the opportunity, as he should, to appeal that decision, just like everyone else has that opportunity. That’s how the American system of justice works.”
The criminal prosecution of a former president has created a tricky political terrain for Biden, whose son Hunter also faces a trial next week over gun charges in Delaware and another later this year on tax evasion in California. Biden and top White House aides have kept a distance from Trump’s trial to avoid perceptions of interference, despite some Democrats urging the president to aggressively attack Trump for his crimes.
Ahead of the verdict, Biden aides had decided that the president would publicly address the ruling once it landed. The president’s campaign and allies plan to use the conviction to bolster a case that Trump is ill-suited for office and to highlight the extremes to which they believe he would go to win back the White House.
Biden didn’t answer shouted questions as he exited the State Dining Room following Friday’s speech. But when one reporter asked what his response was to Trump referring to himself as a “political prisoner,” and blaming Biden for his conviction, the president briefly stopped walking and flashed a smile at the press.
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