Joe Biden Thinks “Something Snapped” in Donald Trump

President Joe Biden had mostly kept his distance from his opponent’s trial as it played out for seven weeks in a Manhattan courtroom—aside, of course, from his campaign casting Robert DeNiro to rail against “buffoon” and “tyrant” Donald Trump during closing arguments. But during a fundraiser in New York on Monday, Biden went on the offensive, warning about the threat the “convicted felon” poses to democracy. “The campaign entered uncharted territory last week,” Biden told supporters in White Plains. “For the first time in American history, a former president that is a convicted felon is now seeking the office of the presidency.”

“But as disturbing as that is,” the president added, “more damaging is the all-out assault Donald Trump is making on the American system of justice.”

Biden was referring to claims from Trump and his allies that the historic conviction on 34 felony counts amounted to political persecution by Democrats; in recent days, Republicans have raged against the verdict, and in some cases directly called on the conservative-led Supreme Court to intervene on Trump’s behalf. “It’s reckless and dangerous for anyone to say it’s rigged just because they don’t like the outcome,” Biden said Monday. “The threat Trump poses would be greater in a second term.”

The future of democracy and American institutions has been a recurring theme for Biden. In his remarks Monday, he underscored the link between Trump’s personal corruption—as displayed by his guilty verdict—and his antidemocratic ambitions. “Something snapped in this guy for real,” Biden said of the “unhinged” Republican. “Just listen to his rantings. He wants to, in his words, be a dictator in one day.”

Biden and the Democrats have seemed unsure so far just how much to focus on Trump’s conviction this campaign season. More Americans than not seem to believe that the verdict was correct and that Trump should end his campaign—and some polling suggests his felony conviction has even hurt his standing among some in the Republican electorate. But conservatives have long proven willing to overlook his criminality—obvious, even before a jury of 12 New Yorkers made it official last week—and in many cases even embraced it. Independents may not buy his “rigged” prosecution spin, which Democrats have been wary of playing into. But how much of a factor will it be when they go to the polls in November compared with other issues, like the economy?

It’s hard to say, because as Biden put it Monday, the country is in “uncharted territory.” But he and the Democrats shouldn’t shy away from addressing Trump’s corruption head-on. It’s not just grist for “Dark Brandon” trolling, after all; it’s “one short, tawdry chapter of a much bigger story,” as Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff told the New York Times last week: “Trump is an aspiring tyrant,” the Georgia lawmaker said, “who intends to rule, not lead, the United States.”