US President Joe Biden visited the New Hampshire Democratic Party Headquarters in Concord, New Hampshire, on Tuesday. – Reuters
US President Joe Biden ventured into contentious political ground on Tuesday with an impromptu remark about his political rival, Donald Trump, stating that to thwart the Republican presidential candidate's radical proposals, "we got to lock him up." "Politically lock him up," Biden swiftly clarified, following some applause from the crowd at a New Hampshire campaign office. With Trump facing multiple pending criminal charges as he competes against Vice President Kamala Harris to succeed Biden, the White House has been cautious not to comment on the Republican's legal issues. Trump has frequently asserted that the charges—some related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat by Biden—were politically motivated. When Trump faced Hillary Clinton in 2016, the businessman-turned-politician called for his Democratic opponent to be investigated and imprisoned, with crowds often chanting "lock her up." This chant was seen as a significant departure from political norms at the time, and although Trump ultimately achieved a surprising victory over Clinton, she was never charged with any crime. The Trump campaign quickly seized on Biden's comments to support its claim of bias against its candidate. "Joe Biden just admitted the truth: he and Kamala's plan all along has been to politically persecute their opponent President Trump because they can't beat him fair and square," said Karoline Leavitt, the campaign's national spokesperson. Crowds at several Harris rallies have chanted "lock him up," but the vice president has been quick to respond. "Hold on," the vice president said, interrupting chants at a rally earlier this month. "The courts will handle that. Let's handle November, shall we?" With just two weeks until the November 5 election, both Trump and Harris remain closely matched in polling.
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