President Joe Biden dialed up his attacks on Donald Trump on Monday night, referring to his likely electoral opponent as a “convicted felon” for the first time and warning that the Republican would be more dangerous in a potential second term than he was the first time around.
Speaking at a fundraiser in Greenwich, Connecticut, Biden took a tougher line in criticizing Trump after he was found guilty of 34 felony counts in his hush-money trial last week. “For the first time in American history, a former president that is a convicted felon is now seeking the office of the presidency,” Biden said.
“But as disturbing as that is, more damaging is the all-out assault Donald Trump is making on the American system of justice,” Biden added, according to Reuters. He went to say Trump “wants you to believe it’s all rigged,” when “nothing could be further from the truth,” the Associated Press reports.
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“It’s reckless and dangerous and downright irresponsible for anyone to say that it’s rigged just because you don’t like the verdict,” Biden said.
That comment recalled the first remarks he gave in response to Trump’s conviction last week over a scheme to hide a hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Trump depicted the state prosecution as political persecution and has falsely claimed Biden was responsible for the proceedings, with Trump’s campaign continuing to blame the Democrat while announcing massive fundraising as a result of the case.
In Connecticut, Biden said Trump is now simultaneously “attacking both the judiciary and elections system as rigged.” “Nothing could be more dangerous for the country, more dangerous for American democracy,” he added.
“Here’s what is becoming clearer and clearer every day: The threat Trump poses in his second term would be greater than it was in his first,” Biden said. “This isn’t the same Trump that got elected in 2016. He’s worse.”
The president continued to say that Trump had become “unhinged” since losing the election four years ago. “Something snapped in this guy—for real—when he lost in 2020,” Biden said. “He can’t accept the fact that he lost, it’s literally driving him crazy.”
Biden did not address the federal gun case against his son Hunter Biden, which started in Delaware earlier in the day. Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller responded to Biden’s remarks by claiming the president “will do anything to distract from Hunter’s trial,” AP reports.
