The Biden campaign pounced on former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict by saying Thursday that ‘no one is above the law’ – but warned that it would likely have little impact on the presidential race.
‘Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president,’ said Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler. ‘There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box.’
Tyler also pushed that Trump ‘has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain.’
A Manhattan jury Thursday found Trump guilty on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records related to hush money payments paid to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump is now the first former U.S. president in history to be convicted of a crime – and the presumptive Republican nominee.
President Joe Biden’s campaign pounced on former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict by saying ‘no one is above the law’ but warned Republicans wouldn’t replace him on the ballot and so voters needed to keep Trump away from the White House via the ballot box
President Joe Biden is seen arriving in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware Thursday. He and family members were at their beach vacation home when Trump’s guilty verdict was announced late Thursday afternoon
In the meantime, Biden paid respects to his late son Beau Biden Thursday morning and was at his Rehoboth Beach home in Delaware when news of the verdict broke.
Thursday marked the ninth annivesary of Beau Biden’s death.
The White House signaled after the verdict was announced that the president was staying put at his beach house with son Hunter and other family members.
‘We respect the rule of law, and have no additional comment,’ said White House Counsel’s Office spokesperson Ian Sams in a statement to the pool.
Biden is expected to remain in Delaware overnight but then return to the White House Friday afternoon to welcome the Kansas City Chiefs, the NFL team that won this year’s Super Bowl.
In the meantime, his campaign sent out a fundraising plea to supporters with the subject head, ‘Let’s keep Trump out of the White House.’
‘There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box,’ the fundraising email said echoing Tyler’s statement but not referencing the guilty verdict.
Former President Donald Trump walks out of the courtroom Thursday after being found guilty on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments given to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election
Hunter Biden (center) arrives Thursday to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware with wife Melissa Cohen (right). The Biden family was at their Delaware beachhouse when news of Trump’s guilty verdict broke
‘You know that I hate to ask, but there couldn’t be a more important moment for you to make your first donation to keep this guy out of the White House once and for all,’ the ask added.
Polling ahead of the verdict suggested it wouldn’t rattle the electorate enough for voters leaning Trump to ditch him in droves for Biden.
In Thursday’s NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll 67 percent of registered voters said a guilty verdict would make no difference in their voter preference.
Additionally, while 17 percent said it would make them less inclined to vote for the ex-president, another 15 percent said a guilty verdict would make them more likely to cast a ballot for Trump.
Helpful to Trump is that independents – who will likely decide the 2024 race – are even more ambivalent about the outcome of the case than an average voter.
Pollsters found that 74 percent of independents said if Trump was found guilty it would have no effect on their White House vote.