President Biden had an emphatic no comment Friday about former President Trump being indicted by a Manhattan grand jury, in the first chance for the current president had to be questioned in public on the case.
“I have no comment on Trump,” Biden said outside the White House, after reporters asked multiple times about Trump.
When the president was asked if he’s worried about protests after the indictment, he replied, “No. I’m not going to talk about the Trump indictment.”
He was asked what Thursday’s indictment of Trump means for the rule of law in the U.S. and replied, “I have no comment at all.”
The president spoke to reporters as he was leaving Washington to travel to Mississippi to survey damage after the deadly storms in the state.
Vice President Harris, who is on an Africa trip, also said she would not be commenting on Trump.
“I am not going to comment on an ongoing criminal case as it relates to the former president,” Harris told reporters while in Zambia on Friday.
Trump’s indictment marks the first time a current or former president has faced criminal charges. It comes after District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) initiated a probe investigating Trump’s involvement in organizing hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign.
The former president has lashed out about the indictment, arguing that he is “completely innocent” and accusing Democrats and law enforcement officials of “weaponizing our justice system to punish a political opponent.”
Trump has also claimed the charges would “backfire massively” on both Biden and Bragg.
Updated 10:14 a.m.