Joe Biden takes aim at Donald Trump: 'We've got to lock him up' – politically
WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden turned the tables on Donald Trump on Tuesday, suggesting the time has come to “lock him up” – at least politically.
Speaking to campaign workers in New Hampshire, Biden warned that democracy is at stake in the Nov. 5 election and that Americans should think about what will happen if Trump wins.
Biden, who defeated Trump in the 2020 election, said the former president thinks he has a right under a recent Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity “to actually eliminate, physically eliminate – shoot, kill – someone who is, he believes, to be a threat to him.”
“If I said this five years ago, you’d lock me up,” Biden said during a stop at the New Hampshire Democratic Headquarters in Concord. “We’ve got to lock him up.”
He paused briefly, then added: “Politically lock him up. Lock him out. That’s what we have to do.”
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Biden has typically gone to great lengths to refrain from commenting on Trump’s legal problems, referring all questions about the criminal charges and investigations against him to the Justice Department.
A New York jury convicted the former president in May of 34 felony counts involving hush money payments to a former porn star with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 26, just three weeks after the election.
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Trump also faces multiple counts in three other cases involving his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents after he left office. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges, which are pending.
Chants of “lock him up” are often heard at rallies for Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris, however, has tried to shut down those shouted refrains by saying she will let the Justice Department deal with the criminal cases against Trump, while she will work to beat him at the ballot box.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt condemned Biden's remarks in New Hampshire.
"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," she said.
Trump’s supporters also have suggested his political opponents should be jailed. “Lock her up” was a frequent refrain at Trump rallies during his first presidential campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016.
Trump himself has made multiple threats to prosecute or punish those he sees as his political enemies.
Contributing: David Jackson
Michael Collins covers the White House. Follow him on X @mcollinsNEWS.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden takes aim at Trump: 'We've got to lock him up' – politically