By Peter Baker
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden stated that former President Donald Trump represented a threat to democracy and should be incarcerated, but he swiftly clarified that he was indicating a “political” lockup.
Speaking at a local Democratic campaign office in Concord, New Hampshire, Biden appeared to make an offhand comment about wanting his predecessor behind bars. While Trump has often used similar rhetoric regarding his adversaries during his campaign and tenure, Biden normally avoids such language to prevent bolstering Republican claims of politically motivated prosecutions against him.
“We got to lock him up,” Biden stated at the campaign office, where he stopped by following a healthcare speech in Concord.
Quickly realizing his wording, he added: “Politically lock him up. Lock him out. That’s what we need to do.”
Biden was reiterating his long-held argument about Trump’s failure to uphold the Constitution. “Our democracy is at stake,” he emphasized. “Consider what might happen if Donald Trump wins this election.”
Trump’s campaign quickly capitalized on Biden’s comment, interpreting it as validation of his claims that the various legal actions against him were merely politically motivated attacks.
“Joe Biden has just revealed the truth: His and Kamala’s plan has always been to politically target President Trump because they cannot defeat him fairly,” stated campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. “The Harris-Biden administration poses the real threat to democracy. We urge Kamala Harris to denounce Biden’s disgraceful statement.”
Trump’s indignation regarding political prosecutions is notably selective. During the 2016 campaign, he encouraged crowds to chant “Lock her up” in reference to opponent Hillary Clinton. While in office, he frequently pressured his attorneys general publicly and privately to pursue prosecutions against Clinton, Biden, former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State John Kerry, and other Democrats, along with former FBI officials involved in investigations against him.
Throughout this year’s campaign, Trump has repeatedly claimed he would prosecute those who have crossed him if he returned to the presidency.
Trump has hinted that a general he believes has wronged him warrants the death penalty. He has also circulated messages suggesting former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., should face a military tribunal for her involvement in a congressional inquiry concerning his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Just last week, he proposed deploying the National Guard or active-duty military to detain U.S. citizens opposed to his candidacy.
Trump has faced four indictments and has been convicted of 34 felonies in one New York case. There is currently no evidence suggesting that Biden or his White House staff played any role in the indictments against Trump.
Two of these indictments were brought by Jack Smith, a federal special counsel appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, designed to insulate the process from political influences. The other two originated from local prosecutors in New York and Georgia, both elected Democrats not under the purview of the Justice Department or Biden.
Biden’s remarks were made Tuesday as part of an extended and somewhat disorganized commentary regarding the potential implications of Trump regaining power and his intent to pursue perceived enemies and the so-called deep state if he were victorious.
Biden referenced a recent Supreme Court ruling that granted Trump and other former presidents considerable immunity from prosecution for official acts. At one point during the legal process, Trump’s legal team acknowledged that according to their constitutional interpretation, a president who instructed the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a domestic political rival would not be subject to criminal charges.
“This is a guy,” Biden remarked, “who also wants to remove every civil servant; believes he has the right, per the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling, to possibly eliminate — physically eliminate, shoot, kill — anyone he sees as a threat. I mean, this sounds absurd. It resembles what I mentioned five years ago: You’d lock me up. We need to lock him up.”
At this moment, the audience applauded, after which Biden clarified his previous statement to indicate he meant “politically lock him up.”
