President Joe Biden laughed and sat quietly when asked on Tuesday if he believes the indictment against his predecessor and potential 2024 opponent, former President Donald Trump, was “politically divisive.”
“Is the indictment of your predecessor politically divisive,” a reporter yelled at Biden after a meeting with his science advisers at the White House, where the press was invited.
Biden did not engage with the questioner, but he did smile as he sat quietly and the press started to be pushed out of the room.
Watch:
The reporter was referring to a Manhattan grand jury voting last week to indict Trump for his alleged role in paying “hush money” to a porn star — Stormy Daniels.
The felony indictment was initially filed under seal by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office until being unsealed on Tuesday at Trump’s arraignment, showing he was charged with 34 felonies. During his historic arraignment, Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts before State Supreme Court Justice Juan M. Merchan.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has reportedly asked Judge Marchan to hold the trial in January 2024 — in the middle of the presidential primary season, when Trump is running for another term in office.
Also, on Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre struggled to defend President Joe Biden’s refusal to comment on the prosecution of Trump, even though it has implications for Biden’s own future if he decides to run for another term himself.
When challenged to explain why the president claims he cannot comment on a pending case by New York Times correspondent Michael Shear, since Biden and the White House have repeatedly commented on the prosecution of participants in the January 6 Capitol riot, Jean-Pierre appeared to be taken off guard.
Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak wrote:
Jean-Pierre was questioned during a White House briefing by New York Timescorrespondent Michael Shear. He challenged her to explain why the president claims he cannot comment on a pending case, when he and the White House have commented constantly on the prosecution of participants in the January 6 Capitol riot.
That seemed to catch Jean-Pierre off guard. She accused Shear of lecturing to her, and also claimed — falsely — that police officers were killed during the riot at the Capitol building. (None died as a direct result of the riot.)
Shear said that while it was understandable that the White House would not comment on the specifics of the case, there were certainly broader issued implicated in the case that would affect the presidency itself.
Watch:
C-SPANLast Thursday, after reports indicated that the Manhattan grand jury voted to formally indict him, Trump posted on Truth Social, stating, “This is Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history.”
“You remember it just like I do: Russia, Russia, Russia; the Mueller Hoax; Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine; Impeachment Hoax 1; Impeachment Hoax 2; the illegal and unconstitutional Mar-a-Lago raid; and now this,” Trump added.
Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.