Biden lays into Trump over convictions and says he now poses a greater threat than in 2016

GREENWICH, Conn. (AP) — President Joe Biden laid into his predecessor and likely opponent in November’s election, Donald Trump, for being convicted by a Manhattan jury on 34 felony counts related to hush money payments, saying Monday night that “this campaign has entered uncharted territory.”

Speaking at a fundraiser in Greenwich, Connecticut, Biden said the former president “wants you to believe it’s all rigged. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

Echoing comments he made in reaction to the verdict at the White House last week, Biden said, “It’s reckless and dangerous and downright irresponsible for anyone to say that it’s rigged just because you don’t like the verdict.”

He added that the justice system was a core of American democracy and “we should never allow anyone to tear it down.”

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was convicted on all counts related to a scheme during his 2016 presidential campaign to pay off porn actor Stormy Daniels, who said the two had sex. The former president slammed the verdict as politically motivated, and has blamed it on Biden — while seeking to make himself a political martyr in the eyes of supporters, suggesting that if this could happen to him, similar things might befall them.

As he did last week, Biden noted that Trump’s was a state case rather than a federal one, was heard by a jury chosen the same way all juries nationwide are chosen, and featured five weeks of evidence. He said the verdict was unanimous and Trump can appeal.

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