In a move that could potentially seriously backfire, President Joe Biden's reelection campaign held a press conference outside of the New York City courthouse where former and potentially future President Donald Trump is a criminal defendant in a hush money trial. Actor Robert DeNiro was there to give some serious hyperbolic remarks, especially when he went off script. Michael Fanone and Harry Dunn, who were police officers at the Capitol on January 6, were also present. Sure enough, there was thus a focus on January 6 by their mere presence, which the Associated Press picked up on.
As our sister site of Twitchy highlighted, the Tuesday headline of "Biden campaign sends allies De Niro and first responders to Trump’s NY trial to put focus on Jan. 6" very much says the quiet part out loud.
...Completely confirming the fact this was always just a political hit job.
— Jon DeMaria (@StealthMediaHD) May 28, 2024
Just trying to influence the jury. Nothing to see here.
— Justin Eack (@JustinEack) May 28, 2024
Proving politically motivated judicial corruption
— Dennis Peterson (@Dpete9Peterson) May 28, 2024
And yet we’ve been told Biden has had nothing to do with any of this. https://t.co/6vD7tDKhcr
— Doug Powers (@ThePowersThatBe) May 29, 2024
The AP report addresses how Fanone and Dunn were there to talk about their experiences on January 6 at the U.S. Capitol. It also begins with a pretty clear connection. "President Joe Biden’s campaign on Tuesday showed up outside former President Donald Trump’s New York City criminal hush money trial with actor Robert De Niro and a pair of former police officers in an effort to refocus the presidential race on the former president’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection," that first paragraph reads, with added emphasis.
The report also goes on to call the move "a sharp about-face for Biden's team, which had largely ignored the trial since it began six weeks ago and is now looking to capitalize on its drama-filled closing moments..."
What makes the headline and report even more stunning is the narrative that Michael Tyler, the communications director for the Biden reelection campaign, gave. He took questions, selectively, while at a press conference. When he did speak to the press, he wasn't too happy about the mention of January 6.
When asked "What's your response to people who say you're running on January 6th because you can't run on Biden's record?" Tyler laughed and offered "I'd say that's absolutely absurd because we are running on a historic record of accomplishments!"
Tyler also spoke to CBS News' Robert Costa and detailed further to the press that he was there "because you are all here, you've been incessantly covering this day in and day out, and we want to remind the American people, ahead of the next debate, at the first debate, on June 27, of the unique, persistent, growing threat that Donald Trump poses to the American people and to our democracy."
REPORTER: What's your response to people who say you're running on January 6th because you can't run on Biden's record?
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 28, 2024
BIDEN CAMPAIGN SPOX: "That's absolutely absurd because we are running on a historic record of accomplishments!" 🤡 pic.twitter.com/9gsXxoR2Ck
I asked the Biden campaign’s spokesman @michaelwtyler why the campaign showed up in lower Manhattan during closing arguments pic.twitter.com/kDlZ7KkYvk
— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 28, 2024
When it comes to the Trump campaign's response, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called out Tyler for such a narrative, arguing it's the Biden reelection campaign is the threat, especially when it comes to this weaponization of the justice system.
Biden's reelection campaign, as well as Biden himself, have been bringing up January 6 and the narrative that Trump is supposedly a threat to democracy at great length. Not only is Trump leading in the polls overall against Biden, but polls show that that tactic isn't really helping the incumbent president.
The case went to the jury late on Wednesday morning, with legal experts warning that the jury instructions were not normal, as Katie highlighted.
Trump Campaign Press Secretary @kleavittnh: Joe Biden sending his campaign outside of this criminal courthouse—it is a full-blown concession that this trial is a witch hunt that comes from Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/UcOlq7kKC4
— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) May 28, 2024
Join the conversation as a VIP Member