Biden's Reported Plans To Address Trump 'Hush Money' Verdict Revealed

President Joe Biden is reportedly planning to address the verdict of former President Donald Trump's Manhattan criminal trial in a "White House setting," rather than a campaign one, once it's delivered, four sources with knowledge of internal deliberations confirmed to Politico.

The reported intention of filming the message at the White House, rather than the campaign trail, is to show that the president's statement isn't political. Biden, 81, who had previously been silent on Trump's criminal trial publicly, will reportedly argue that the verdict shows Trump, 77, is willing to go to extremes to win again if the former president is found guilty, the sources confirmed.

Biden's campaign team is also reportedly discussing referring to the former president as "Convicted Felon Donald Trump" in social media posts to further leverage the attack following a possible guilty verdict, as well as preparing for an attack from Trump and other Republicans if he's acquitted or there's a hung jury.

Closing arguments in Trump's Manhattan criminal trial is scheduled to take place on Tuesday (May 28) and Biden is expected to speak publicly at some point after that, though there has not been a definitive decision on when that will take place.

“This is an important moment and the president first and foremost needs to stress that the American system works, even and especially in an election year,” said one of the four people granted anonymity via Politico. “And in a measured way, it becomes part of his argument against Trump too: Do Americans really want this?”