President Joe Biden called former President Donald Trump a “convicted felon” on the presidential debate stage on Thursday night.
One of the hot button topics at the forefront of the first 2024 presidential debate between Trump and Biden on Thursday were Trump’s legal woes. Trump was recently convicted on 34 counts related to his “hush money” payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
“When he talks about a convicted felon, his son is a convicted felon at a very high level,” Trump said during the debate. “His son is convicted, gonna be convicted probably numerous other times. He should’ve been convicted before, but his Justice Department let his statute of limitations lapse on the most important things. But he could be a convicted felon as soon as he gets out of office, Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he’s done. He’s done horrible things.”
Republicans in Congress are investigating the Biden family over its overseas business dealing and millions of dollars funneled to the Biden family when he was vice president.
Trump also said that one of the “horrible things” that Biden has done was “all of the death caused at the border,” during the debate.
“This man is a criminal,” added Trump.
Biden slammed Trump in response to his mentioning his son’s conviction.
“The only person on this stage that’s a convicted felon is the man I’m looking at right now,” Biden said in response to Trump’s comments.
The debate took place in Atlanta, Georgia, and was moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash.
This presidential debate comes on the heels of Trump’s conviction from a Manhattan jury in May related to a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, as The Center Square previously reported. Trump’s guilty verdict made him the first former U.S. president to have a felony charge and sent his current campaign into unprecedented territory.
Trump’s felony charge has become one of the key talking points for Biden and his team to use against him leading up to the presidential election in November, especially as Trump is currently the presumed 2024 Republican presidential candidate.
Trump has repeatedly argued that the prosecutions against him are politically motivated.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, for instance, discussed going after Trump while running for the office she currently holds. She soon took legal action obtaining judgments against Trump for nearly half a billion dollars. And New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. did the same.
Biden said during a White House press conference in May that it is “irresponsible” for anyone to call Trump’s conviction “rigged.”
Trump is not the only person facing heat for convictions during this election season. Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, was convicted on all three felony charges in a federal gun trial in June.
Trump’s national press secretary Karoline Leavitt denounced Trump’s conviction as a “sham” in a post on X, formerly Twitter, from earlier this month.
How Trump’s conviction will impact voters’ decisions ahead of the 2024 presidential election in November remains to be seen.
