President Biden said Friday, after former President Donald Trump was found guilty in his criminal trial in New York, “he will have an opportunity, as he should, to appeal that decision, just as everyone else has that opportunity.”
Biden added that it was “reckless, dangerous and irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don't like the verdict.”
A jury convicted Trump on Thursday of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.
“The American principle that no one is above the law was reaffirmed. Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself. It was a state matter, not a federal matter. And it was heard by a jury of twelve citizens, twelve Americans, twelve people like you, like millions of Americans who have served on juries,” Biden said at the White House. “This jury is chosen the same way every jury in America is chosen. It was the trial that Donald Trump's lawyer was a part of.”
LIVE UPDATES: TRUMP RAILS AGAINST 'INFORMED' CONVICTION
President Biden pauses to respond to a reporter's question as he leaves the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington DC on Friday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“The jury heard five weeks of evidence, five weeks. And after careful deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous verdict. They found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 crimes. Now he will have the opportunity, as he should, to appeal this decision, just as everyone else has that opportunity. That is how the American justice system works,” he continued.
“And it's reckless, it's dangerous, it's irresponsible for someone to say this is rigged just because they don't like the verdict,” Biden concluded. “Our legal system has been around for almost 250 years and is literally the cornerstone of America. Our legal system, that justice must be respected. And we should never allow anyone to tear it down. It's that simple. That's America. who we are, and always will be, God willing.”
Biden then spoke about a proposal to end the war between Israel and Hamas.
TRUMP SAYS HE 'WOULD LIKE' TO TESTIFY IN CRIMINAL COURT IN NEW YORK
WATCH: BIDEN PRACTICES THE TRUMP CONVICTION:
After those comments, reporters in the room asked Biden again about Trump's verdict, but he declined to respond.
“Mr. President, can you tell us, sir, that Donald Trump is calling himself a political prisoner and is blaming you directly. What is your response to that, sir?” a reporter asked Biden as he walked away.
Biden then turned and grinned at the media before leaving the room.
President Biden will deliver remarks from the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington DC on Friday about the ruling in former President Donald Trump's hush money trial and about the Middle East. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Meanwhile, Trump's campaign warned Biden on Friday to “buckle up” after the verdict.
“Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats have locked President Trump in a courtroom for more than eight hours a day for over six weeks, and he is still winning,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “Now that he's back on the campaign trail, Biden and the Democrats better buckle up.”
Then the former president said at a news conference at Trump Tower in New York that he wanted to “testify for himself” but that “the theory is that you will never testify.”
“It's very important, it's way beyond me,” Trump said of the case. “And this shouldn't happen to other presidents. It should never happen in the future. But this is way beyond me. This is bigger than Trump. This is bigger than me. This is bigger than my presidency. ,” he said.
Trump's campaign also announced Friday that it had raised $34.8 million in fundraising from 6 p.m. ET Thursday to midnight Thursday, in the hours after the verdict was read.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday after being found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. (Felipe Ramales for Fox News Digital)
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They said the haul was “nearly double the largest day ever recorded for the Trump campaign on the WinRed platform” and emphasized that the guilty verdicts “awakened the MAGA movement like never before.”
Fox News' Brooke Singman, Brianna Herlihy and Kyle Morris contributed to this report.
