President Biden’s campaign, after more than a year of carefully avoiding direct comments about Donald J. Trump’s legal issues, sent actor Robert De Niro to the Manhattan courthouse where the former president’s first criminal trial is concluding.
During the news conference, Mr. De Niro, speaking off-script, asserted that Mr. Trump was guilty and should be imprisoned.
“The truth is, regardless of the trial outcome, he is guilty, and we all recognize it,” the actor stated. “I’ve never seen someone evade consequences so many times, and everyone knows it. Everyone in the world knows it.”
When asked if he believed Mr. Trump should be incarcerated, Mr. De Niro replied, “Absolutely.”
The involvement of a Biden supporter in discussing Mr. Trump’s guilt, a decision that may be made by the New York jury this week, marked a significant departure from the president’s instruction to refrain from commenting on his opponent’s criminal charges. Mr. Biden has remained largely silent on the issue to avoid perpetuating the false narrative, inspired by Trump, that he directed prosecutors to pursue charges against his predecessor.
This moment highlighted the challenges the Biden campaign may face in responding to a potential verdict, with external allies more willing than the campaign’s disciplined team in Wilmington, Del., to launch direct attacks on Mr. Trump regarding his legal jeopardy.
The primary focus of the news conference was to shed light on Mr. Trump’s actions leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, which are the subject of another federal criminal case pending against him. In Manhattan, Mr. Trump faces charges of falsifying business records related to a hush-money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election.
Mr. De Niro, whose voice narrates the campaign’s latest ad, was joined by Harry Dunn and Michael Fanone, two former U.S. Capitol Police officers who have criticized Mr. Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 violence.
Mr. Fanone described Mr. Trump as “an authoritarian who answers only to himself,” while Mr. De Niro accused the former president of engaging in “cowardly violence” after the 2020 election.
“He directs the mob to do his dirty work for him,” Mr. De Niro remarked.
Mr. De Niro also referenced the civil case from the previous year in which a jury found Mr. Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine writer. In January, the former president was ordered to pay $83.3 million in damages to Ms. Carroll. The Biden campaign has seldom addressed that case or the verdict against Mr. Trump.
“Just a couple of blocks from here a jury found him liable for sexual abuse,” Mr. De Niro remarked.
The Trump campaign swiftly reacted to the Biden news conference, with Mr. Trump sharing a video on social media of Mr. De Niro confronting protesters.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, remarked, “The Biden folks have finally crossed the line. After claiming for months that politics played no role in this trial, they have now turned it into a campaign event.”
He viewed Mr. De Niro’s involvement as a desperate attempt by a campaign seeking to boost Mr. Biden’s approval ratings, referring to the actor as a “washed-up actor” and contending that Biden campaign staff present at the news conference knew it was unwise to be in the courthouse’s shadow.
The Biden campaign clarified that bringing Mr. De Niro and the two Capitol Police officers to Mr. Trump’s trial was not a statement on the case itself but on the extensive media coverage surrounding it.
“We are not here today because of what’s happening over there,” stated Michael Tyler, the campaign’s communications director, addressing the reporters gathered outside the courthouse. “We are here today because you all are here.”
Throughout the trial, many news conferences held outside the courthouse have been met with some level of opposition from demonstrators in a nearby protest area. A rowdy group of pro-Trump supporters heckled Mr. De Niro and the former Capitol Police officers, labeling the actor as an elitist and the officers as traitors.
At one point, Mr. De Niro displayed a level of anger reminiscent of one of his film characters.
“We’re trying to be civil, the Democrats,” he shouted at the Trump supporters. “You are gangsters — you are gangsters!”
Mr. Trump has attempted to link all four of his pending criminal cases and baselessly argued that Mr. Biden is behind all of them. In addition to the Manhattan trial, he faces separate federal cases concerning the handling of classified documents, attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and a case in Georgia related to his efforts to reverse the results of that year’s election.
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, accused the Biden campaign of turning the criminal case into a political spectacle with their appearance.
When asked about the Biden campaign’s assertion that their presence at the courthouse was due to the long-standing media presence there, Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign’s press secretary, simply responded, “They’re pathetic.”
Later that day, Mr. Trump’s two eldest sons and his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, held their own news conference outside the courthouse.
Lara Trump seized the opportunity to fundraise. “If they can profit from it, so can we: donaldjtrump.com,” she stated.
Donald Trump Jr. also took a jab at Mr. De Niro.
“He craves attention because it’s been a while since he produced a good movie,” the younger Mr. Trump remarked. “Their decision to hold a rally right across the street from this witch hunt, right across the street, confirms what we’ve known all along, that it’s a political persecution.”
As Mr. De Niro departed from his downtown appearance, trailed by jeers from Trump supporters, he responded angrily, aligning more with the overall message of the Biden campaign.
“Screaming and yelling and trying to intimidate, you’re not going to intimidate, that’s what Trump does, to try to intimidate,” Mr. De Niro shouted, pointing a finger. “We are going to fight back.”
