With two weeks until Election Day, President Biden appeared to ignite a political firestorm on Tuesday when he called for his predecessor to be “politically” imprisoned during a political speech in New Hampshire’s capital city.
The president was in Concord for an official event promoting his administration’s efforts to reduce healthcare expenses and prescription medication pricing.
Minutes later, at a campaign meeting at the New Hampshire Democratic Party headquarters, Biden reiterated his long-standing claim that Republican contender former President Donald Trump, if re-elected, would be a threat to the country’s democracy.
“Our democracy is at stake. Think about it. Think about what would happen if Donald Trump wins this election,” he said.
Biden then said “I know this sounds bizarre. It sounds like if I said this five years ago, you’d lock me up. We got to lock him up.”
But the president quickly got himself and changed the statement, saying, “politically lock him up. Lock him out. That’s what we have to do.”
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During his time in the White House, Biden attempted to separate himself from the Justice Department’s several investigations into the former president. Biden has frequently stated that his administration’s judgments regarding the Trump probes were not influenced by political motivations.
However, Biden’s comments on Tuesday, which he swiftly rectified, came as Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket three months ago, has attempted to prevent supporters at her rallies from chanting “lock him up” about President Trump.
“Lock her up” was a common slogan among Trump fans during the former president’s 2016 campaign, when he accused Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton as corrupt.
And, as he campaigns for reelection, Trump has often claimed – without offering evidence – that the Justice Department investigations against him are politically motivated.
On Tuesday, Trump’s team swiftly shared a video of Biden’s statements to its social media accounts.
Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that “Joe Biden just admitted the truth: he and Kamala’s plan all along has been to politically persecute their opponent President Trump because they can’t beat him fair and square.
“The Harris-Biden Admin is a real threat to democracy. We call on Kamala Harris to condemn Joe Biden’s disgraceful remark.”
There was no formal White House reaction, but aides underlined the context: the president swiftly corrected himself as he spoke, adding “politically lock him up.”
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