How Biden world is preparing for Trump verdict

The Biden campaign is preparing for the verdict in former President Trump’s criminal trial and is considering the most effective way to attack his opponent in November if he is convicted.

Seeking to capitalize on the media attention in Manhattan, the campaign held a news conference outside the courthouse on Tuesday just as Trump’s defense team was giving their closing arguments. In attendance were actor Robert De Niro and police officers who had been at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to warn of the dangers of a Trump presidency replacing Biden.

With jury deliberations underway and no indication of when a verdict will be rendered, Biden and his team will likely have to deal with the results head-on, which could come with consequences.

“The Biden team is in a very delicate position right now because the verdict hasn’t been reached, and the last thing they want to do is make a big splash with this big trial and acquit Trump,” said David Hopkins, an associate professor of political science at Boston University.

The White House has so far avoided interfering in Trump’s trials at all costs, to counter the impression that it is trying to interfere in an ongoing legal matter involving a political opponent.

But the Biden campaign and Biden himself have at least tried to wade into the issue in recent weeks, making winking references to the former president’s legal proceedings, such as Biden joking that “Trump is free” on Wednesday, the only weekday guaranteed that Trump won’t have to be in the courtroom while witnesses take the stand.

A source familiar with the campaign’s thinking said it was still unclear whether the campaign would actively attack Trump as a “convicted felon” if he were convicted.

Sources said Biden is likely to comment in some capacity on the trial’s outcome, but no formal remarks are currently scheduled.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre avoided multiple questions this week about whether Biden would comment on the final ruling.

“I do not and will not speak about any ongoing cases, even hypothetical or speculative,” Jean-Pierre said Wednesday.

One former White House aide argued that the Biden team’s strategy for approaching the trials is smart.

“One of the underrated pillars of good communication is not necessarily communicating about things you can’t control. There are so many variables, outcomes and nuances in a trial, none of which the campaign has control over. I think their strategy of avoiding a circus show overall is a smart one,” the former aide said.

But that strategy apparently shifted on Tuesday, with the campaign trying to defuse the furor surrounding the trial by bringing in celebrities like De Niro.

Asked why the Biden campaign decided to hold an event in Manhattan on Tuesday, Biden communications director Michael Tyler responded, “You’re all here,” referring to the large media presence at the trial.

“It’s easy to talk about the choices in this election because the press is here every day,” Tyler said.

He also said the Biden campaign wanted to issue a warning to Trump ahead of the first presidential debate in June.

“Ahead of the first debate on June 27, I want to remind the American people of the unique, persistent and growing threat that Donald Trump poses to the American people and our democracy,” Tyler said.

De Niro’s press conference received mixed reviews, with Trump slamming him on Truth Social, calling him a “wacky ex-actor.”

Veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove said the appearance of De Niro and the two police officers near the courthouse on January 6 was a “big mistake” and “stupid.”

David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the Obama administration, said the decision to use De Niro as a surrogate was “head-scratching” and may not have been understood by younger voters.

Meanwhile, some Democrats saw it as a success, as it drove the day’s news in a way that Biden’s typical delivery can sometimes struggle to do.

Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday that De Niro’s appearance was a chance to create a media frenzy outside Trump’s courtroom.

“If you look at the footage on TV right now, you’ll see that there are more microphones there than in the whole of Taiwan,” Coons said, “so I guess because you’re there, he’s there too.”

Outside the courthouse, surrogates made no mention of the trial itself, but Biden and his advisers are considering how aggressively to go after Trump in the coming days, at a time when issues such as inflation are becoming more salient to millions of voters.

“The campaign’s message to voters is that no matter what the verdict is, the only way to stop Donald Trump is to beat him at the polls,” said a person with knowledge of the campaign’s thinking.