President Joe Biden continued to ramp up his rhetoric against his presumptive opponent in November’s election, Donald Trump, calling the former president a “convicted felon” at a fundraiser in Greenwich, Conn., on Monday night and charging that he poses a bigger threat to American democracy now than in 2016.
“For the first time in American history, a former president that is a convicted felon is now seeking the office of the presidency,” Biden said at the event. "But as disturbing as that is, more damaging is the all-out assault Donald Trump is making on the American system of justice.”
Biden’s comments echo those he made last week following Trump being found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. At the time, the president condemned attacks on the American justice system as “reckless” and “dangerous.”
“It’s reckless and dangerous and downright irresponsible for anyone to say that it’s rigged just because you don’t like the verdict,” the president said Monday night, adding that Trump “wants you to believe it’s all rigged. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
The president condemned Trump's "attacking both the judiciary and elections system as rigged," adding: "Nothing could be more dangerous for the country, more dangerous for American democracy."
Biden said that after the 2020 election, “something snapped in this guy for real,” adding: “He can't accept the fact that he lost, it's literally driving him crazy. “This isn’t the same Trump that got elected in 2016,” Biden told the crowd. “He’s worse.”
While Biden’s campaign largely avoided talking about Trump’s trial while it was ongoing — in part because the former president, his reelection campaign and his allies have all baselessly alleged a weaponized prosecution and election interference by the president — officials have taken a tougher position following the verdict.
Trump falsely claimed that the hush money case against him was “all done by Biden and his people” in remarks at Trump Tower the day after the verdict was handed down. (There is no evidence of Biden’s involvement, and the president does not have oversight of state-level cases.)
The president’s fundraiser came the same day that a trial against his son, Hunter Biden, kicked off with jury selection. He did not address the trial, though earlier that day he issued a statement expressing his love and support for his son.
The fundraiser took place at the home of former HBO CEO Richard Plepler and featured Shonda Rhimes, the creative mind behind "Grey's Anatomy" and "Bridgerton."