WASHINGTON — In his first remarks since Donald Trump’s guilty verdict, President Joe Biden slammed his predecessor’s attacks on the justice system.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Biden called Trump’s words dangerous.
“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed,” Biden said. “Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself.”
“That’s how the American system of justice works, and it’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like verdict,” the President said. “Our justice system has endured for nearly 250 years, and it literally is a cornerstone of America. Our justice system should be respected. We should never allow anyone to tear it down. It’s as simple as that.”
Biden’s comments came just hours after Trump spent 40 minutes attacking the judge in the trial, the prosecutors, and the Justice system after a jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records in a case centered on a 2016 payment made to adult-film star Stormy Daniels.
“This is all done by Biden and his people. This is done by Washington. No one has ever seen anything like this,” Trump told reporters and supporters at Trump Tower.
Railing against the judge and prosecutors, Trump said: “This is a scam, this is a rigged trial. It shouldn’t have been in that venue. We shouldn’t have had that judge.”
Trump vowed to appeal the verdict and falsely accused the Biden administration of being involved in the case, which was brought by Manhattan prosecutors.
At the White House, the President pushed back against the false claims.
“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,” Biden said.
“Like millions of Americans who served on juries, this jury was chosen the same way every jury in America is chosen,” the president continued. “In the process that Donald Trump’s attorney was part of the jury heard five weeks of evidence, five weeks. After careful deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous verdict. They found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts.”
