President Joe Biden is still not speaking about the indictment of his predecessor but has not kept all his reactions to himself.
During an event at the White House on Tuesday, a reporter asked Biden about the first-ever indictment for a former president and whether it is “politically divisive.”
The president did not give an oral response.
Instead, he just strangely laughed.
Watch the moment below:
Reporter: “Is the indictment of your predecessor politically divisive?”
— The Recount (@therecount) April 4, 2023
President Biden: pic.twitter.com/3H0EKtkZfk
Biden has previously said he was not going to comment on former President Donald Trump’s indictment. And White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre insisted she will not comment either because it is an ongoing criminal case.
But when she was asked why she has commented on the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol despite the ongoing criminal cases, Jean-Pierre insisted the two incidents are different.
“People died,” she said of Jan. 6 compared to Trump’s indictment.
So is that the difference between whether or not she will comment on two incidents involving criminal cases? People dying?
If Trump shot and killed people on Fifth Avenue, and was indicted for it, would Biden or the White House then comment on the case?
The desire to stay away from the Trump case is understandable. But Biden could at least say something without going too far — like he did when he stated he was praying for the “right verdict” in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
He could simply say something along the lines of, “This is a historic moment in America. We have never seen a president — sitting or former — indicted. Without commenting on the specifics of the case, I have full faith that despite the unprecedented nature of the case, our justice system is the best and fairest in the world, and there will be a just outcome in the end. And that’s all I’m going to say about it.”
His response on Tuesday comes after some other odd reactions in connection to a tragedy. After the shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, Biden opened an event at the White House by joking about his love for ice cream and then transitioning to speak about the slaughter.
Later in the week, he was asked if he agreed with Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) that Christians were targeted in the shooting, he responded, “Well, I probably don’t then.”
“No, I’m joking. No, I have no idea,” he added.
This weird smiling and joking and seeming to act like a major moment in American history is not happening is kind of odd.
Perhaps he has decided to take a page from his vice president’s playbook and just laugh in response to questions he doesn’t like or is not prepared to answer.
