Biden: Criticism of Trump jury verdict is ‘dangerous, irresponsible’

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden said on May 31 that it is dangerous for people to question the integrity of the guilty verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money jury trial. 

In his first public comments since a New York jury on May 30

found Trump guilty on 34 counts

over a payment to silence a porn star ahead of the 2016 election, Mr Biden, a Democrat, struck out hard at Trump and other Republicans who have criticised the verdict.

“Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself,” Mr Biden said in remarks at the White House.

He noted that the case against Trump in New York was brought by the state, that it was not a federal case, and that the verdict was delivered by “a jury of 12 citizens, 12 Americans, 12 people like you”.

The US justice system has endured for nearly 250 years, Mr Biden said, and he criticised Trump and his supporters for attempting to tear it down with false allegations.

“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict,” Mr Biden said.

In rambling remarks earlier on May 31 at the Trump Tower lobby in Manhattan,

Trump repeated his complaints

that the trial was an attempt to hobble his White House comeback bid and said it showed that no American was safe from politically motivated prosecution.

“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” Trump said in an unscripted 33-minute speech.

The May 30 guilty verdict catapults the US into unexplored territory ahead of the Nov 5 vote, when Trump, 77, will try to win back the White House from Mr Biden, 81.

Later on May 31, Mr Biden was asked by a reporter if he was worried that he could find himself in the same situation some day.

“Not at all. I didn’t do anything wrong. The system still works,” he said.

Mr Biden said he had “no idea” whether the conviction would help Trump in the 2024 election, when the two face a rematch. REUTERS