Biden calls for Trump to be ‘politically locked up’ at an event in New Hampshire

With two weeks to go until Election Day, President Biden appeared to spark a political controversy Tuesday when he called for his predecessor to be “politically locked up” during a political event in New Hampshire’s capital.

The president was in Concord for an official event to highlight his administration’s efforts to lower health care costs and prescription drug prices. A few minutes later, during a political rally at Democratic Party headquarters in New Hampshire, Biden repeated his long-standing argument that the Republican nominee former President TrumpIf he is re-elected, it would be a threat to the country’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 you would lock me up if I said this five years ago. We need to lock him up.”

But the president immediately seemed to catch himself, adding, “lock him up politically. Lock him out. That’s what we have to do.”

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President Biden speaks at the New Hampshire Democratic Party headquarters in Concord, NH on October 22, 2024 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

During his time in the White House, Biden has tried to keep his distance from the Justice Department and the many investigations into the former president. And Biden has repeatedly emphasized that his administration has not let political motivations influence its decisions regarding those investigations into Trump.

But Biden’s comments Tuesday — even though he quickly corrected himself — came as Vice President Kamala Harris — who replaced Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket three months ago — 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 from Trump supporters during the former president’s 2016 campaign, in which he criticized the Democratic presidential nominee. Hillary Clinton as corrupt.

And as he tries to win back the White House, Trump has repeatedly accused — without providing evidence — that the Justice Department’s investigations against him are politically motivated.

Trump’s campaign quickly posted a video of Biden’s comments to its social media accounts on Tuesday.

And the Trump campaign’s national press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, claimed in a statement that “Joe Biden just admitted the truth: his and Kamala’s plan has always been to politically persecute their opponent, President Trump, because they can’t beat him fair and square. Biden Admin is the real threat to democracy. We call on Kamala Harris to condemn Joe Biden’s disgraceful comment.”

There was no official response from the White House, but aides noted the context, which was that the president quickly corrected himself as he spoke by adding, “lock him up politically.”

Fox News reached out to the Harris campaign for comment but had not received a response by the time this story was published.

Trump, who has been indicted several times and made history as the first current or former president to be convicted in a criminal case, frequently said during the 2024 campaign that if he returned to the White House he would prosecute his political enemies.

And both Biden and Harris have repeatedly warned voters that Trump is a threat to democracy if re-elected.

“There are only two things we can do. Guarantee he won’t. Or, if he does, make sure we have the strongest Democratic majority we can get,” the president argued.

Bidn also repeated his accusations Trump-supporting Republicans have an anti-democratic attitude.

“We are now dealing with a completely different breed of cat,” he said. “That was… the civil rights era was terrible. But we now have a group that is literally literal, and I’m not one for exaggeration, but we have a group leading the MAGA Republicans who have an anti-political approach. “democratic attitude toward the way the Constitution functions,” Biden reiterated on Tuesday.

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But.Trump’s supporters have blamed the rhetoric of some Democrats for the two failed assassination attempts on the former president’s life this year.

President Biden highlights his administration’s efforts to reduce health care costs, in Concord, New Hampshire, on October 22, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

Biden also criticized Trump during the official policy event, which was held at a nearby community college.

“My predecessor, the distinguished former president,” Biden said mockingly of Trump, “he wants to replace the Affordable Care Act with… what he calls a draft plan.”

The president then accused Trump of saying that Trump “has no idea about anything.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders of neighboring Vermont, the progressive champion and two-time runner-up for the Democratic presidential nomination, spoke for Biden at the event.

The president later joked, “Bernie and I… have been doing this job for a long time. I know we both look like we’re forty, but we’re a little older. At least I do.’

Fox News’ Pat Ward and Camille Moore contributed to this report

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