Biden Seems to Accidentally Call for Trump to Be Locked Up

The White House had to issue a clarification Tuesday after President Biden made a reference to locking up Donald Trump. Biden, speaking at the New Hampshire Democratic Party headquarters, started by saying, "Our democracy is at stake. Think about it. Think about what would happen if Donald Trump wins this election. I know this sounds bizarre. It sounds like if I said this five years ago, you'd lock me up. We gotta lock him up." He then appeared to catch himself, Fox News and NBC News report. As the small crowd clapped, he pivoted to, "Politically lock him up. Lock him out. That's what we have to do." As the New York Times notes, Biden typically avoids such language so as not to give any more fuel to Republicans who claim he's pushing for Trump to be prosecuted and imprisoned.

A White House official later said Biden's remarks should be interpreted by focusing on the idea of "politically" locking Trump "out," and that Biden was speaking about the high stakes of the presidential election. Back in 2016, of course, "Lock her up" was a chant commonly heard at Trump rallies in reference to Hillary Clinton, and in this election cycle, Kamala Harris has shut down chants of "Lock him up" at her rallies. Trump's campaign quickly responded to Biden's Tuesday remarks. "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," a rep says in a statement. "The Harris-Biden Admin is the real threat to democracy. We call on Kamala Harris to condemn Joe Biden's disgraceful remark." Trump allies were also quick to decry Biden's comments. (More Joe Biden stories.)