Biden, Democrats react to Trump guilty verdict

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.

The Biden campaign echoed that statement on social media with a link to the Democratic incumbent’s donation page.

By contrast, the White House Counsel’s Office spokesperson, Ian Sams, remained relatively tight-lipped, saying, “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.

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.

After the verdict, Trump denounced the trial as “rigged” and a “witch hunt” that he falsely claimed had been ordered by President Joe Biden.