President Biden sparked a wave of both outrage and mockery as he called for his predecessor to be “politically” locked up.
Biden was in Concord, New Hampshire to tout his healthcare and prescription drug cost legislation when he said former President Trump wants to eliminate his political adversaries and detractors. “I know this sounds bizarre. It sounds like if I said this five years ago, you’d lock me up,” Biden said. “We got to lock him up. Politically lock him up. Lock him out. That’s what we have to do.”
While Biden appeared to have caught himself in the moment, clarifying he did not mean imprisoning his political opponent, the incident nonetheless went viral across social media and both political parties.
Axios national political correspondent Alex Thompson claimed that a former Biden admin official, noting this could be politically unhelpful to Vice President Kamala Harris, texted him, “we gotta lock Joe up.”
President Joe Biden visits a New Hampshire Democratic coordinated campaign office in Concord, NH, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) (AP)
By contrast, a current Biden admin official allegedly told the reporter, “For better or worse, no one is listening to him anymore and his words have little power and less reach. It’s a blip. Gone in any meaningful way by mid-day tomorrow if it makes it that long.”
Trump Campaign National Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt responded to the incident by declaring: “Joe Biden just admitted the truth: he and Kamala’s plan all along has been to politically persecute their opponent President Trump because they can’t beat him fair and square. The Harris-Biden Admin is the real threat to democracy. We call on Kamala Harris to condemn Joe Biden’s disgraceful remark.”
Republican communications professional Steve Guest argued, “After years and years of lawfare against Donald Trump, there is no cleanup that is possible for Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and the Democrats in the wake of this comment.”
“[T]he only reason this is offensive is because the Democrats have made sure all of the institutions they control pump out propaganda for years that they are the party of the rule of law and norms. Otherwise these remarks are just banal,” Washington Free Beacon reporter Joe Gabriel Simonson said.
Donald Trump is addressing the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority Conference at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2024 (Andrew Leyden/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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The Atlantic contributor Tyler Austin Harper suggested the incident is shocking not because of Biden’s conduct, but because the Democratic Party is still relying on him.
“I do not think this is a meaningful gaffe. Who cares,” he wrote. “I do think it’s completely insane that anyone thinks this animatronic wax doll whose batteries are literally running out as he speaks is helping Harris on the campaign trail, and doubly insane he still has the nuclear codes.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign and the White House for comment.
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Fox News’ Louis Casiano contributed to this report