President Joe Biden finally weighed in on former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in a Manhattan trial, during his unplanned Friday remarks.
A 12-person jury in Manhattan convicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records in a case brought by Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Though Democrats and the Biden campaign jumped to react to the decision, the president himself remained silent until his unexpected marks on Friday. Ahead of his remarks on the Middle East, Biden backed up the jury’s decision to convict Trump and insisted that the former president’s trial wasn’t rigged. (RELATED: Daily Caller’s ‘Rigged’ Reveals Radical Steps Democrats Have Taken To Undermine Elections)
“It’s reckless, dangerous. It’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict,” Biden said.
“Our justice system has endured for nearly two hundred and fifty years, and it literally is a cornerstone of America. Our justice system. The justice system should be respected and we should never allow anyone to tear it down. It’s as simple as that. That’s America. That’s who we are. And that’s who we will always be, God willing,” he continued, before moving on to talk about the Middle East. (RELATED: ‘RIGGED: Death Of The American Voter’)
The charges that Bragg brought against Trump in 2023 revolved around $420,000 that Trump paid his former attorney, Michael Cohen. The former president paid Cohen in 2017 over 12 months and listed the charges as “legal services.” During the trial, which began on April 15, the prosecutors argued that Trump’s “legal services” payments were instead to secure a nondisclosure agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels that was arranged to keep her quiet about an alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election. (RELATED: Trump’s Most Iconic Campaign Tool Is Nowhere To Be Seen As He Languishes In NY Courtroom)
Ahead of the jury’s decision, Judge Juan Merchan gave the jury instructions for their deliberations, telling them that they did not need to agree on what “unlawful” means Trump allegedly used to influence the election.
About a year ahead of the trial, Merchan previously came under fire for his history of political donations. The judge donated $35 in political donations to Democrats ahead of the 2020 election, including $15 to Biden as he challenged Trump, CNN reported.
“The American principle that no one was 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 is chosen,” Biden said of the Trump trial.
REPORTER: “Mr. President, can you tell us, sir, Donald Trump refers to himself as a political prisoner and blames you directly? What’s your response to that sir?”
Biden: *smiles big and shuffles away*pic.twitter.com/8M4q5JGZW1
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 31, 2024
“It was a process that Donald Trump’s attorney was part of. The jury heard five weeks of evidence. Five weeks,” Biden said, adding that Trump has the right to appeal the case,” he continued.
After learning the decision of the jury, Trump addressed reporters outside the courthouse as he routinely did throughout the five weeks.
“It’s a rigged trial, a disgrace. They wouldn’t give us a venue change. We were at 5% or 6% in this district, in this area. This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” the former president said, outlining his grievances with the trial. “The real verdict is going to be November 5th, by the people, and they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here. You have a Soros-backed DA, and the whole thing, we didn’t do a thing wrong, I’m a very innocent man and it’s okay, I am fighting for our country, I am fighting for our constitution.”
As Republican operatives alike rushed to put out a statement in support of the former president, his campaign donation page faced difficulties from the influx of visitors to the site. In the hours following the decision, the campaign page displayed a 500 error stating “something went wrong.” The Trump campaign said Friday that it received $34.8 million in small donor donations after the verdict.
Today, the Trump campaign announced a record-shattering small-dollar fundraising haul following the sham Biden Trial verdict totaling $34.8 million – nearly double the biggest day ever recorded for the Trump campaign on the WinRed platform.
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) May 31, 2024
On the campaign front, Biden’s reelection bid addressed the charges first while the White House reportedly deliberated its response. With five months until the 2024 election, the president trails Trump both nationally and across swing states that could prove to be crucial to a victory.
“[Trump] has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain,” campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement.
“But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality,” Tyler continued. “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president,”