CONCORD, N.H. – With two weeks to go until Election Day, President Biden appeared to spark a political controversy on Tuesday as he called for his predecessor to be “politically” locked up during a political event in New Hampshire’s capital city.
The president was in Concord for an official event to highlight his administration’s efforts to lower health care costs and prescription drug prices. Minutes later, speaking at a political gathering at the New Hampshire Democratic Party headquarters, Biden was reiterating his longstanding argument that GOP nominee former President Trump, if re-elected, would be a threat to the nation’s democracy.
“Our democracy is at stake,” he said. “Think about it. Think about what would happen if Donald Trump wins this election.”
Biden then said “I know this sounds bizarre. It sounds like if I said this five years ago, you’d lock me up. We got to lock him up.”
But the president appeared to instantly catch himself, adding “politically lock him up. Lock him out. That’s what we have to do.”
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President Biden speaks at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s headquarters, in Concord, N.H. on Oct. 22, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
During his tenure in the White House, Biden has tried to keep his distance from the Justice Department and its multiple investigations into the former president. And Biden has repeatedly insisted that his administration has not let political motivations influence its decisions regarding those investigations into Trump.
But the comments on Tuesday from Biden – even though he quickly corrected himself – come as Vice President Kamala Harris – who three months ago replaced Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket – has tried to stop supporters at her rallies from chanting “lock him up” in reference to Trump.
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“Lock her up” was a regular chant by Trump supporters during the former president’s 2016 campaign, as he criticized Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as being corrupt.
And as he runs to win back the White House, Trump has repeatedly charged – without providing evidence – that the Justice Department investigations against him are politically motivated.
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Trump’s campaign on Tuesday quickly posted video of Biden’s comments to its social media accounts.
And Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt claimed in a statement that “Joe Biden just admitted the truth: he and Kamala’s plan all along has been to politically persecute their opponent President Trump because they can’t beat him fair and square. The Harris-Biden Admin is the real threat to democracy. We call on Kamala Harris to condemn Joe Biden’s disgraceful remark.”
There was no official White House reaction, but aides noted the context, that the president quickly corrected himself as he spoke by adding “politically lock him up.”
Fox News reached out to the Harris campaign for reaction, but had yet to receive a response at the time this story was published.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Riverside Park in Grand Rapids, Mich., Friday, Oct. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Trump, who has been indicted multiple times and made history as the first current or former president convicted in a criminal case, has regularly said during the 2024 campaign that if he returned to the White House, he would prosecute his political foes.
And both Biden and Harris have repeatedly warned voters that Trump poses a threat to democracy if he’s re-elected.
“There’s only two things we can do. Guarantee that he doesn’t. Or if he does, make sure we have the strongest Democratic majority we can get,” the president argued.
Bidn also repeated his charges that Trump-supporting Republicans have anti-democratic attitudes.
“We’re dealing with a totally different breed of cat now,” he said. “That was— the civil rights era was terrible. But we got a group now that is just literally, and I’m not one that is prone to hyperbole, but we have a a group running the MAGA Republicans who are have an anti-democratic attitude toward the way the Constitution functions,” Biden reiterated on Tuesday.
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But.Trump’s supporters have blamed rhetoric from some Democrats for the two failed assassination attempts this year on the former president’s life.
President Biden highlights his administration’s efforts to lower health care costs, at an official policy event in Concord, New Hampshire, on Oct. 22, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Biden also criticized Trump at the official policy event, which was held at a nearby community college.
“My predecessor, the distinguished former president,” Biden mockingly said of Trump, “he wants to replace the Affordable Care Act with… what he refers to as a concept of a plan.”
The president then charged that Trump “has no concept of anything.”
President Joe Biden with Sen. Bernie, D-Vt., after Biden delivered remarks on lowering the cost of prescription drugs, at NHTI Concord Community College, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Concord, N.H.. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Sen. Bernie Sanders from neighboring Vermont, the progressive champion and two-time Democratic presidential nomination runner-up, spoke before Biden at the event.
The president later joked that “Bernie and I…have been doing this work for a long time. I know we both look like we’re 40, but we’re a little older. At least I am.”
Fox News’ Pat Ward and Camille Moore contributed to this report
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