President Biden on Monday railed against President Trump after his conviction to donors at a fundraiser, arguing that “something snapped” after he lost the 2020 election.
“Here is what is becoming clearer and clearer every day. The threat that Trump poses would be greater in a second term than it was in his first term. This isn’t the same Trump who got elected in 2016. He’s worse,” Biden said, according to prepared remarks.
“Something snapped in him when he lost in 2020. He can’t accept he lost, and it is literally driving him crazy,” he added. “Now he’s running again. And he’s not only obsessed with losing in 2020, he is clearly unhinged.”
Biden called Trump a “convicted felon,” which his campaign has done several times since the conviction, but it marks the first time the president has.
“For the first time in American history a former president that is a convicted felon is now seeking the office of the presidency,” Biden said. “But as disturbing as that is, more damaging is the all-out assault Donald Trump is making on the American system of justice.”
The president’s remarks came during a fundraiser with wealthy donors in Greenwich, Conn., and follows comments on the conviction on Friday, during which he said its “irresponsible” for Trump to say the trial was rigged.
Biden on Monday told donors that he thinks Trump is running to keep his freedom.
“Throughout this campaign Trump has made it clear he is running to exact for revenge,” the president said. “Now after his criminal convictions it’s clear he’s worried about preserving his freedoms.”
Additionally, the president outlined recent comments from Trump, including that he would be a dictator on day one of a potential second term and that if he doesn’t get elected it will be a “blood bath.”
Trump’s campaign pushed back on Biden’s comments, highlighting that the president’s son is on trial for federal gun charges in Delaware.
“Crooked Joe Biden will do anything to distract from Hunter’s trial and the fact his family has raked in tens of millions of dollars from China, Russia and Ukraine,” Jason Miller, Trump’s senior adviser, said in a statement. “The Biden Family Criminal Empire is all coming to an end on November 5th, and never again will a Biden sell government access for personal profit.”
A jury found Trump guilty Thursday on all counts of falsifying business records to conceal alleged affairs during his 2016 campaign. Trump has since called the trial “rigged,” and he has vowed to appeal the case.
The president issued a short statement Thursday evening on the social platform X, calling for donations to the 2024 race and saying, “There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box.”
His campaign called Trump a convicted felon in its first statement after the verdict and has seized on the verdict to raise money for the 2024 race.
Updated June 4 at 8:42 a.m.