Biden Denounces ‘Reckless’ GOP Efforts to Discredit Trump Conviction

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden took on his newly convicted opponent Friday, declaring that a New York jury’s guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump should be respected and denouncing efforts to undermine the justice system as “reckless,” “dangerous” and “irresponsible.”

Breaking his long silence over Trump’s legal troubles, Biden directly and unambiguously characterized the putative Republican nominee as a lawbreaker whose conviction amounted to a victory for the rule of law. And he rejected assertions that the prosecution was a political witch hunt, noting that it was not a case brought by his own administration.

“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed,” Biden said in a hurriedly arranged televised statement at the White House before outlining his latest efforts to end the war in the Gaza Strip. “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’ve served on juries.

“This jury,” he went on, “was chosen the same way every jury in America is chosen. There’s a process that Donald Trump’s attorney was part of. The jury heard five weeks of evidence, five weeks. And after careful deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous verdict. They found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony counts.”

Biden made no mention of the substance of the case, in which Trump was convicted of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn actor who claimed to have had an affair with him. Instead, Biden focused on the efforts by the former president and his allies to discredit the prosecution and the judgment of the jury by painting the process as a political persecution.

“It’s reckless; it’s 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 250 years, and it literally is the cornerstone of America. Our justice system, the justice system, should be respected, and we should never allow anyone to tear it down.”

The president’s decision to address the outcome of the trial directly was a major strategic shift. Ever since Trump was charged in this first of four indictments brought against him, Biden has refused to discuss the matters.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .