President Joe Biden addressed former President Donald Trump’s felony conviction directly at a Monday fundraiser, his first since a New York jury delivered a verdict in Trump’s hush money case.
“Folks, the campaign entered uncharted territory last week,” Biden told donors in Greenwich, Connecticut, four days after Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up his alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels. “For the first time in American history, a former president who is a convicted felon is now seeking the office of the presidency.”
“But as disturbing as that is, more damaging is the all-out assault Donald Trump is making on the American system of justice,” he added. “Now, he will be given an opportunity to appeal.”
Biden, whose son Hunter Biden made his own court appearance this week for one of his two federal trials for tax and gun charges, criticized Trump for calling the legal system “rigged.”
“It’s reckless and dangerous for anyone to say that’s rigged just because they don’t like the outcome,” Joe Biden said, reiterating what he said last week after the verdict was announced.
Joe Biden also scrutinized Trump for “selling bibles and golden sneakers,” which he described as tantamount to “selling his presidency to the highest bidder.”
“This guy does not deserve to be president whether or not I’m running,” he said.
Joe Biden has traditionally addressed fundraisers without prepared remarks, tending not to stick to his stump speech. But the campaign circulated what the president was expected to say before his appearance on Monday.
“Throughout this campaign, Trump has made it clear he is running to exact revenge,” Joe Biden was expected to say, according to an advanced readout of the speech. “Now, after his criminal convictions, it’s clear he’s worried about preserving his freedoms.”
Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley countered Joe Biden in a statement, arguing that “no one is excited about a second term for Joe Biden, so instead of hosting sparsely-attended events with his few supporters, [Joe] Biden has limited his circle to wealthy donors who can spend thousands of dollars to see him.”
“Biden’s handlers can bubble-wrap him all they want while Trump hosts events with tens of thousands of hardworking people in attendance because the momentum and enthusiasm is on our side,” Whatley wrote.
