The Biden campaign wasted no time slamming former President Donald Trump and making a plea for campaign donations, minutes after the guilty verdict in Trump’s New York hush money trial.
“In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law,” Biden campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said in a statement on Thursday evening. “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.”
“A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans’ freedoms and fomenting political violence – and the American people will reject it this November,” Tyler added.
President Joe Biden‘s reelection effort echoed that statement on social media, with a link to the Democratic incumbent’s donation page.
The campaign doubled down on that fundraising pitch in a text message blast to voters, asking for $20 donations: “If you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, we’re here to tell you today is the day.”
By contrast, the White House Counsel’s Office spokesperson, Ian Sams, was relatively tight-lipped, saying only, “We respect the rule of law, and have no additional comment.”
Trump on Thursday became the first former president to be convicted of felonies after a 12-person jury found him guilty of all 34 charges of falsifying business records in his New York hush money trial.
The Biden campaign’s reaction marks a pivot to offense for the president’s reelection team, and breaks President Joe Biden’s weeks-long silence, as the hush money trial played out and the possibility of acquittal still existed.
President Joe Biden wears sunglasses given to him by supporters after speaking on the PACT Act, which expands coverage for veterans exposed to toxic substances, at the Westwood Park YMCA in Nashua, New Hampshire, on May 21, 2024.
Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
The campaign’s attacks amplified a chorus of Democratic criticism from lawmakers across Capitol Hill.
“Despite his efforts to distract, delay, and deny — justice arrived for Donald Trump all the same,” Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Ca., said in a post on X.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat whose office prosecuted the case, took his own victory lap at a press conference in Manhattan with the rest of his legal team after the verdict.
“Today we have the most important voice of all, and that’s the voice of the jurors. They have spoken. Donald J. Trump has been convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records,” he said.
In response to a question about the possibility of Trump serving jail time, Bragg pointed to Trump’s July 11 sentencing: “We will speak in court at that time.”
Trump, meanwhile, denounced the trial as “rigged” and a “witch hunt” that he falsely claimed had been ordered by President Joe Biden.