President Biden plans to address former President Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial in a “White House setting” when the jury delivers its verdict, according to a report.
The 81-year-old president’s message will be tailored to the outcome of the trial, according to Politico, but in any scenario, he intends to stress that the US legal system worked and Americans should respect the process.
Biden will deliver remarks whether the 77-year-old former president is convicted, acquitted or the jury cannot agree on a verdict.
Closing arguments in Trump’s trial over alleged hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels are set to commence on Tuesday.
It is believed that the jury could reach a verdict as early as next week.
The exact timing and setting of Biden’s speech have not been definitively determined, but it won’t be done on the campaign trail, multiple sources told the outlet.
In an effort to have his remarks not perceived as being political, Biden will deliver them from the White House grounds.
The Biden campaign is also prepping for the historic verdict, reportedly considering referring to the presumptive GOP nominee for president in social media posts as “Convicted Felon Donald Trump” if he’s found guilty.
A poll released by the Cook Political Report on Thursday found that a majority of swing state voters are more worried about Biden’s age than Trump’s criminal cases.
When voters in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia and Wisconsin were asked whether Trump’s “temperament and legal issues” or Biden’s “age and ability to perform his duties” were more concerning, more than half (53%) responded that the president’s stage of life and mental acuity were more troubling than the former president’s four criminal cases and the two civil judgments against him.
The Post has reached out to the White House for comment.
