A verdict in the NY v. Trump case will mark an ‘important day’ for the nation, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.
‘I have to be pretty honest with you. I have not talked to the president about that,’ Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday during a gaggle on Air Force One. ‘This is going to be an important day. Obviously, the campaign is going to have more to share. The president and I said this yesterday, a couple of times when I was asked this question in various ways, that the president is focused on the American people, delivering for the American people.’
‘You’ll hear him talk about… some of that today. Again, the campaign will speak to that since it’s a campaign event,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘That’s his focus.’
The jury began deliberations ahead of noon on Wednesday after a long day in court on Tuesday, when they heard closing arguments from the defense team and a lengthy one from the District Attorney’s Office.
Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former pornographic star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.
Trump addressed the media Wednesday, vowing that he will win the 2024 race for the White House, while slamming the case as one ‘Mother Teresa could not beat.’
‘The judge, who, as you know, is very conflicted and corrupt. Because of the confliction, very, very corrupt. Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged,’ Trump said late Wednesday morning as jury deliberations kicked off.
‘The whole country is a mess, between the borders and fake elections, and you have a trial like this where the judge is so conflicted, he can’t breathe. He’s got to do his job.… it’s a disgrace. And I mean that, Mother Teresa could not beat those charges. But we’ll see. We’ll see how we do.’
On Tuesday, as the defense and prosecution teams delivered their respective closing arguments, the Biden-Harris campaign held a press conference outside the courtroom that was headlined by actor Robert De Niro. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were not present during the event.
De Niro claimed in his comments that Trump ‘could destroy the world’ if he’s re-elected.
‘Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city, but the country. And eventually he could destroy the world,’ De Niro said.
‘I owe this city a lot. And that’s why it’s so weird that Donald Trump is just across the street because he doesn’t belong in my city. I don’t know where he belongs, but he certainly doesn’t belong here. We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot,’ De Niro added.
The actor was shouted down during the event by protesters supporting Trump, including the actor getting into a heated back and forth with protesters as he left the press conference.
Trump has, meanwhile, repeatedly slammed the trial as one promoted by the Biden administration in an effort to hurt their political opponent.
‘Let me just tell you that the White House… they’re the one trying this case. You heard who was doing all the talking: a representative from the White House, just recently. This is all about Biden, he can’t campaign. So, he’s trying to injure his opponent. They’re trying to hurt the opponent because they can’t win it fair and square. It’s lawfare,’ Trump said last week.