Joe Biden made an issue of the criminal charges against Donald Trump at Thursday night’s debate.
Trump was recently convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records in a New York trial stemming from payments his campaign made to porn star Stormy Daniels. He also faces criminal charges in Georgia and in Washington stemming from his efforts to overturn Biden’s victory in 2020. And he faces federal charges in Florida for allegedly mishandling classified documents after he left office.
Biden used the criminal cases – along with civil lawsuits Trump has lost – to question his suitability to be president.
“The only person on this stage who is a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,” Biden said.
Trump shot back that Biden’s son Hunter is also a convicted felon.
The exchange came in response to a question about whether Trump would uphold the U.S. Constitution and support democracy if re-elected. Moderator Jake Tapper noted that Trump encouraged a crowd to march on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 – a march that devolved into an attack that disrupted the certification of Biden’s victory.
As he has in the past, Trump said the prosecutions against him are politically motivated.
“I did nothing wrong,” Trump said. “We have a system that is rigged and disgusting.”
This was originally published on our Live Updates page.
