President Biden lashed out at donors at a fundraiser on Monday, claiming that “something was broken” after President Trump was convicted and lost the 2020 election.
“This is becoming more clear every day: The threat that Trump poses will be greater in a second term than he was in his first term. This is not the Trump that was elected in 2016. This is much worse,” Biden said in prepared remarks.
“When he lost in 2020, something broke inside him. He couldn’t accept that he lost and it literally drove him crazy,” he added. “Now he’s running again and not only is he obsessed with losing in 2020, he’s clearly lost his mind.”
Biden called Trump a “convicted felon” — the first time the president has done so, though his campaign has done so several times since his conviction.
“For the first time in American history, a convicted former president is seeking office,” Biden said, “but as disturbing as that is, what’s more pernicious is the full-scale attack that Donald Trump is waging on the American justice system.”
The president’s comments, made during a fundraising event with wealthy donors in Greenwich, Connecticut, followed comments on the guilty verdict on Friday, in which he said it was “irresponsible” to say the trial was rigged.
Biden told donors on Monday that he believes Trump is running to protect freedom.
“Throughout the campaign, Trump made it clear he was running for revenge,” the president said. “Now that he has been convicted, it’s clear he is concerned about protecting his own freedom.”
The president also outlined recent comments made by Trump in which he said he would be a dictator from day one of his second term and that there would be a “bloodbath” if he wasn’t elected.
A jury found Trump guilty on Thursday of all charges of falsifying business records to hide an alleged affair during the 2016 campaign. Trump has since called the trial “rigged” and vowed to appeal.
The president issued a brief statement Thursday evening. Social Platform XHe called for donations for the 2024 election, saying, “The only way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office is at the ballot box.”
His campaign called Trump a convicted felon in its first statement since the verdict and is using the sentence to raise money for the 2024 election.
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