President Joe Biden has described as “reckless” Friday’s comments by Donald Trump after the Republican lashed out in rambling, angry comments at verdicts in New York making him the first former US president to become a convicted felon.
Five months ahead of the November 5 election, when the billionaire intends to dethrone Biden and make an unexpected comeback to power, the thrilling conclusion of Trump’s hush money trial took place.
Speaking in New York, the 77-year-old Trump, confirmed he would appeal the verdict, which he branded a “scam.”
He billed the event as a press conference but did not take questions, instead launching into an extraordinary 35 minutes of insults, non-factual claims, and non-sequiturs reflecting his seething anger.
Trump called Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over his trial, a “tyrant” and claimed that he “literally crucified” witnesses.
“This man who looks like an angel, but he is really a devil,” Trump said in the remarks, which were carried live by all the major US television networks.
Speaking at the White House, where he was announcing a major new peace proposal for Gaza, Biden said Trump’s attacks on the court were “dangerous.”
“It’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict,” Biden said.
Read Also: Biden Lifts Ban On Ukraine’s Use Of US Weapons On Russia
“The justice system, should be respected. We should never allow anyone to tear it down.”
“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed,” Biden said.
Biden’s election campaign described Trump as “confused, desperate and defeated.”
On Thursday, a jury found Trump guilty on all 34 charges of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to silence porn star Stormy Daniels.
Prosecutors successfully laid out a case that Trump was afraid that Daniels would fatally harm his 2016 presidential campaign by going public with an alleged sexual encounter, prompting him to pay her — then illegally hide the transaction.
Trump, speaking in his signature Manhattan Trump Tower, repeated previous assertions that he had done nothing wrong.
But he frequently veered into attacks on Biden, as well as against illegal immigrants, who he said were speaking “languages unknown” and include many terrorists, as well as “a lot of people” released from prisons.
“They’re coming in from all over the world into our country, and we have a president and a group of fascists that don’t want to do anything about it, because they could right now. Today, he could stop it. But he’s not. They’re destroying our country,” Trump said.
Trump faces a potential prison sentence, but is much more likely to receive probation.
Merchan set sentencing for July 11 — four days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump is due to receive the party’s formal nomination.
Although the verdict does not prevent Trump from continuing his election bid, it does cast the already tense contest into even more unpredictable waters.