According to a new report, President Biden plans to address the verdict in former President Donald Trump’s New York City trial, regardless of the outcome.
He intends to comment from a White House setting to maintain an appearance of impartiality. However, if Trump is found guilty, Biden is prepared to celebrate the verdict and use it as a campaign talking point from the Oval Office.
Citing sources within the Biden Administration, Politico reported that Biden intends to address the verdict from the White House rather than a campaign venue in order to “show his statement isn’t political.”
If Trump is convicted, Biden will argue that it proves the former president’s unfitness for office and demonstrates the “extremes to which the former president would go to win again.”The campaign’s social media is also well-prepared for a guilty verdict and plans to immediately blitz social media by referring to their political rival as “Convicted Felon Donald Trump.”
Biden’s team is reportedly preparing to use either an acquittal or a hung jury as a line of attack against Trump and the broader Republican Party. According to Politico, the White House plans to depict Trump and his supporters as embodying chaos and lawlessness, regardless of the trial’s outcome.
“This is an important moment and the president first and foremost needs to stress that the American system works, even and especially in an election year,” one of four anonymous sources from the Biden team told Politico. “And in a measured way, it becomes part of his argument against Trump too: Do Americans really want this?”
Closing arguments in the case are scheduled to start on Tuesday after more than four weeks of trial proceedings. That means the jury could reach a verdict as early as next week.
While the Biden campaign is prepared to use the outcome of Trump’s trial in their political strategies, several aides acknowledge that even a guilty verdict may not significantly alter the campaign’s trajectory. They believe that the trial has not deeply resonated with voters, particularly outside the Northeast Corridor, according to Politico.
