During a campaign stop on Tuesday, President Biden shocked his audience by calling for his predecessor, Donald Trump, to be imprisoned, just two weeks before the presidential election where Trump is the Republican candidate.

“If I said this five years ago, you’d lock me up: We gotta lock him up,” the 81-year-old president remarked while visiting a Democratic campaign office in Concord, New Hampshire, the state’s capital.

After a brief pause, which was met with cheers from the crowd, Biden seemed to soften his statement, adding, “politically, lock him up — lock him out, that’s what we’ve got to do.”

While the president and his team usually avoid discussing the legal cases pending against Trump, the former president argues that the multiple local and federal indictments brought against him last year were aimed at benefiting Biden’s re-election efforts.

However, this isn’t the first time Biden has alluded to Trump’s legal troubles. Just last week, while speaking in Pennsylvania, he stated, “I think he’s running to stay out of jail.”

In May, Trump was found guilty by a Manhattan jury on 34 counts related to falsifying business records to hide hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the closing weeks of the 2016 campaign.

His sentencing for that case, initiated by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, is set for November 26.

Trump also faces further charges in both federal and state courts in Georgia, connected to his efforts to contest his loss in the 2020 election. Additionally, federal prosecutors are seeking to revive a dismissed case from Florida that accuses Trump of mishandling classified documents.

Should Trump win the presidency on November 5 and become the 47th president, his administration’s Justice Department is expected to work to dismiss the federal charges pending against him.

According to polling in key swing states, Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, are in a tight race. RealClearPolitics averages suggest Trump has a slight lead, though within the margin of error.

Harris, 60, is typically cautious when addressing calls for Trump’s imprisonment, often telling supporters who chant “lock him up!” at her rallies that it’s up to the courts to decide.

The White House did not immediately issue a response to clarify Biden’s statements, which quickly sparked backlash from Trump’s supporters.

{Matzav.com}