On the Trail: Biden walks back “lock him up” statement about Trump

President Joe Biden addressed a political gathering at the NH Democratic Party headquarters on N. State St. in Concord Tuesday, two weeks before Election Day on Nov. 5

President Joe Biden addressed a political gathering at the NH Democratic Party headquarters on N. State St. in Concord Tuesday, two weeks before Election Day on Nov. 5 Paul Steinhauser / For the Monitor

By PAUL STEINHAUSER

For the Monitor

Published: 10-23-2024 12:58 PM

Modified: 10-23-2024 6:59 PM


President Joe Biden saying in Concord “we’ve got to lock him up” in reference to his former political rival sent shockwaves through the race for the White House.

Speaking at a political gathering of supporters at the New Hampshire Democratic Party headquarters on North State Street on Tuesday with two weeks to go until Election Day, Biden was reiterating his longstanding argument that GOP presidential nominee – former President Donald Trump – if re-elected, would be a threat to the nation’s democracy.

“Our democracy is at stake,” Biden argued. “Think about it. Think about what would happen if Donald Trump wins this election.”

Biden then said, “I know this sounds bizarre. It sounds like if I said this five years ago, you’d lock me up. We’ve got to lock him up.”

The comment drew applause, but the president quickly rephrased, adding “politically lock him up. Lock him out. That’s what we have to do.”

Among those in the room when Biden made his comments were U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, former Gov. John Lynch, former Manchester Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Joyce Craig, Democratic nominee in the state’s 2nd Congressional District Maggie Goodlander, longtime New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley, and Democratic National Committee member from New Hampshire and longtime activist Billy Shaheen, as well as a couple of dozen other current or former leading Democratic officials, politicians and activists.

The president, during his nearly four years in the White House, has tried to keep his distance from the U.S. Justice Department and its multiple investigations into Trump. And Biden has repeatedly insisted that his administration has not let political motivations influence its decisions regarding those investigations into the former president.

But the comments on Tuesday from Biden – even though he quickly corrected himself – come as Vice President Kamala Harris, who three months ago replaced Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket, has tried to stop supporters at her rallies from chanting “lock him up” in reference to Trump.

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“Lock her up” was a regular chant by Trump supporters during the former president’s successful 2016 campaign, as he repeatedly charged that then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was corrupt.

As he runs this year to win back the White House, Trump has repeatedly charged that the Justice Department investigations against him are politically motivated.

Trump’s campaign on Tuesday quickly posted video of Biden’s comments to its social media accounts.

“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,” Trump campaign national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Leavitt, a New Hampshire native who lost the 2022 congressional election in the state’s 1st congressional district to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas, argued that “the Harris-Biden Admin is the real threat to democracy. We call on Kamala Harris to condemn Joe Biden’s disgraceful remark.”

Trump, who has been indicted multiple times and made history as the first current or former president convicted in a criminal case, has regularly said during the 2024 campaign that if he returned to the White House, he would prosecute his political foes.

Both Biden and Harris have repeatedly warned voters that Trump poses a threat to democracy if he’s re-elected.

“There’s only two things we can do,” Biden said Tuesday. “Guarantee that he doesn’t. Or if he does, make sure we have the strongest Democratic majority we can get.”

Biden also repeated his charges that Trump-supporting Republicans have anti-democratic attitudes.

“We’re dealing with a totally different breed of cat now,” he said. “That was – the civil rights era was terrible. But we got a group now that is just literally, and I’m not one that is prone to hyperbole, but we have a group running the MAGA Republicans who have an anti-democratic attitude toward the way the Constitution functions,” Biden reiterated on Tuesday.

Trump’s allies and supporters have blamed Democratic rhetoric for the two failed assassination attempts this year on the former president’s life.

Biden also criticized Trump at an official policy event that was held at NHTI, Concord’s community college, where the president highlighted his administration’s efforts to lower health care costs and prescription drug prices.

“My predecessor, the distinguished former president,” Biden mockingly said of Trump, “he wants to replace the Affordable Care Act with … what he refers to as a concept of a plan.”

The president then charged that Trump “has no concept of anything.”

New Hampshire for over a generation was a top-tier battleground state in the general election in the race for the White House. But with polls indicating Harris holding a upper-single-digit lead over Trump, this cycle the Granite State has been bumped down to second-tier swing state status.

Harris made one quick stop in the state early last month, and Trump hasn’t set foot in New Hampshire since his presidential primary night victory in late January.

Biden’s visit, and his controversial comments, briefly put the Granite State back into the spotlight in the race for the White House.