President Joe Biden’s campaign made a surprise appearance outside former President Donald Trump’s New York City criminal hush money trial, bringing actor Robert De Niro and two former police officers with them. The aim was to shift the focus of the presidential race back to Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection. While initially wary of engaging with the trial, Biden’s team decided to capitalize on the drama-filled closing moments to highlight the stakes of the election, which had been struggling to break through the intense focus on the trial.
At a press conference outside the courthouse, the Biden campaign stressed that they were not there to discuss the trial directly, but rather to take advantage of the media attention surrounding it. The presence of De Niro and the officers was used to underscore the message about the need to defeat Trump in the upcoming election. Meanwhile, Trump’s advisers argued that the Biden team’s presence outside the trial validated the former president’s claims that the prosecutions against him were politically motivated.
Inside the courthouse, closing arguments were underway in the only Trump trial likely to conclude before the November election. Two other cases related to Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss are ongoing, one at the federal level in Washington and another at the state level in Georgia. Trump has pleaded not guilty in those cases. The last case involves accusations that he retained classified documents after leaving office. The Biden campaign released a new ad narrated by De Niro criticizing Trump’s presidency and plans if he were to be reelected.
De Niro joined the campaign stating that it was the only way to preserve freedoms and prevent Trump from returning to the White House. He criticized Trump’s business ventures and self-promotion, warning that a Trump presidency would endanger the freedoms that Americans take for granted. Former police officers Michael Fanone and Harry Dunn also shared their personal experiences from Jan. 6, 2021, emphasizing the violence Trump unleashed on Americans that day. They urged Americans to take action at the ballot box to defeat Trump once and for all.
In response to the Biden campaign’s press conference, Trump’s campaign staffers held their own news conference outside the courthouse, where they criticized the Biden team’s presence and labeled De Niro as a “washed-up actor.” They accused the Biden campaign of being desperate and failing and characterized their event outside the trial as a concession that the trial was a politically motivated witch hunt. Trump has been using the trial as an extension of his presidential campaign, using it as a fundraising opportunity and a platform to criticize Biden and showcase his political supporters.
Despite Trump and his aides denouncing the trial as politically motivated, he has been actively using the proceedings to rally his supporters and attack his political opponents. His team’s response to the Biden campaign’s presence at the trial highlights the ongoing tensions and political divisions that continue to define the landscape leading up to the November election. The clash between the two camps outside the courthouse underscores the highly charged atmosphere surrounding Trump’s legal challenges and the broader implications for American democracy.
