President Biden called former President Trump a “convicted felon” who “snapped” and is going “crazy” after the 2020 election at a campaign event Monday.
The remarks at a fundraiser in Greenwich, Connecticut, were the first time Biden has participated in a campaign reception where he referred to his 2024 opponent as a “convicted felon.”
“Folks, the campaign entered uncharted territory 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.”
A jury found Trump guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his New York criminal trial last week. Trump maintains his innocence and has claimed Biden and the Democratic Party prosecuted him for political purposes, to damage his presidential campaign.
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President Biden, left, on Friday, for the first time while campaigning, referred to his former President Trump as a “convicted felon.” (Getty Images)
At the White House on Friday, Biden told reporters, “it’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.” He repeated those comments on Monday and suggested Trump is not mentally well.
“Something snapped in this guy for real” after the 2020 election, Biden said. “It’s literally driving him crazy.”
He told the audience Trump “does not deserve to be president whether or not I’m running.”
Throughout most of Trump’s New York trial, Biden and his campaign held back from attacking the presumptive Republican nominee over his criminal charges. It appeared to be an effort to combat Trump’s repeated unsubstantiated allegations that it was a “SHAM TRIAL instigated and prosecuted directly from the inner halls of the White House and DOJ [Department of Justice].”
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President Biden boards Air Force One before departing Westchester County Airport in White Plains, New York, on June 3, 2024. Biden was in Greenwich, Connecticut, for a campaign fundraiser. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
However, that changed last Tuesday when the Biden campaign held a news conference outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, which appeared to be a major break with their strategy during the past six weeks of steering clear of the case.
Similar to what the Trump campaign had been doing for the duration of the trial, the Biden team came equipped with high-profile surrogates. They were actor and Biden supporter Robert De Niro, who last week voiced a campaign ad for the president, and former police officers Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, who fought back against pro-Trump rioters during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Now, the president is openly calling his opponent a “convicted felon” and making the case that he is dangerous and unfit for office as such.
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Former President Trump sat down with “Fox & Friends Weekend” for an exclusive interview that aired on Sunday. (Fox & Friends Weekend)
“Crooked Joe Biden will do anything to distract from Hunter’s trial and the fact his family has raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine,” said Jason Miller, a senior advisor to the Trump campaign. “The Biden Family Criminal Empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit.”
Biden currently trails Trump both in national polling and in public opinion surveys in most of the crucial battleground states that will likely decide their election rematch.
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The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee announced Monday they raised a stunning $141 million in May. The announcement came days after Trump and the RNC hauled in nearly $53 million in the first 24 hours after Trump’s guilty verdict.
The Biden campaign is sitting on an $84 million war chest as of April.
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this update.