Biden withdraws and corrects himself after calling for Trump to be locked up two weeks before the election

In the two weeks leading up to the 2024 election, President Joe Biden alarmed listeners by calling on former President Donald Trump to “get locked up.”

“I know this sounds bizarre. If I said this five years ago, you would lock me up: we need to lock him up.” . “Politically, lock him up – lock him out, that’s what we need to do,” he interrupted after a brief pause, as the crowd had already erupted in applause during his visit to Democratic Party headquarters in Concord, New Hampshire , on Tuesday, October 22.

With a handful of criminal cases still pending against Trump, the Republican candidate has the impression that his charges were politically motivated to advance Biden’s then-reelection bid. Meanwhile, the incumbent commander-in-chief’s comments echo Trump’s own oft-quoted remarks during the 2016 campaign, when he pushed for the prison sentence of his then-Democratic contender in the presidential race, Hillary Clinton.

Also read | Kamala Harris is facing more plagiarism accusations, this time not just about the book

‘Lock her up! Lock her up!” chants often defined Trump’s rallies at the time. As Biden calls for the Republican presidential nominee to be “politically imprisoned” so he can’t slip up and demand his literal arrest, Vice President Kamala Harris and the crowd of other leaders are repeating their rejection of the convictions and others charges from the ex-POTUS.

This is not the first time Biden has publicly taunted Trump about his legal troubles

However, Biden also sarcastically alluded to Trump’s legal entanglement during an appearance last week in Pennsylvania, the US state where the first attempt on Trump’s life was unraveled during the now infamous July 13 rally.

“I think he’s on the run to stay out of jail,” Biden said at the time.

Democratic candidate Harris, on the other hand, has done her part by responding to the “lock him up” chants at her rallies, saying the courts will handle the matter and her focus is on winning the election.

Trump’s spokesperson hits back

In contrast to the president’s mocking comments, which have now been made almost twice, an insider close to him told The New York Post that his comment was in no way intended to call for Trump’s capture.

Also read | The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart thinks Donald Trump’s “enemy within” comment “sounded pretty good…”

On the contrary, Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt took the opportunity to make the most of it, repeating the former president’s insinuation that the investigations into Trump were fueled by a political agenda.

“Joe Biden just admitted the truth: his and Kamala’s plan all along has been to politically persecute their opponent, President Trump, because they cannot beat him fair and square,” Leavitt said in a statement. “The Harris-Biden administrator is the real threat to democracy. We call on Kamala Harris to condemn Joe Biden’s disgraceful comment.”

Earlier this year, Donald Trump was convicted of 34 criminal charges of falsifying company records in connection with his hush money trial. After District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a fellow Manhattan Democrat, convicted him, the former president is scheduled to be sentenced on November 26.