Donald Trump indicted: Biden says he’s not following Trump’s third arrest
Naomi Lim
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President Joe Biden will not be monitoring former President Donald Trump‘s third arrest and arraignment, this time related to special counsel Jack Smith‘s investigation into Trump’s alleged attempts to undermine the 2020 election.
“No,” Biden told reporters Thursday in Rehoboth, Delaware, when asked whether he would be “following” Trump’s court appearance.
DONALD TRUMP INDICTED: THREE TAKEAWAYS FROM FORMER PRESIDENT’S THIRD INDICTMENT
Biden made the comments as he rode a bicycle past reporters during his August recess beach holiday.
Biden, the White House, the Democratic National Committee, and the president’s campaign have tried to distance him from Trump’s mounting legal problems, particularly Smith’s federal cases.
“We would refer you to the Justice Department, which conducts its criminal investigations independently,” White House Counsel’s Office spokesman Ian Sams told the Washington Examiner earlier this week.
American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic research, tracking, and rapid response organization, is among the only groups to respond to Smith indicting Trump this week on one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
“Well, we certainly didn’t plan on having three Trump indictments on our 2023 bingo card,” American Bridge spokeswoman Monica Venzke said Wednesday. “It’s a good reminder that trying to overturn our democracy and illegally install yourself as president has consequences.”
At the same time, the idea of protecting democracy has underpinned Biden’s presidency and was critical to the Democrats’ 2022 midterm election messaging.
“I will not stand by and watch elections in this country be stolen by people who simply refuse to accept that they lost,” Biden said last year during a keynote address on the issue. “As your president, I will defend your democracy with every fiber of my being and I’m asking every American to join me.”
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“Democracy is at stake,” he added last week during a fundraiser in Freeport, Maine. “If you just take what he said, on the record, I’m inclined, just a snippet, the stuff he said with him and run those ads, some would say it’s just flat seditious. Not who we are.”
Trump is expected to plead not guilty Thursday at a federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.