Biden team prepares for Trump trial verdict: From Politico Desk

Welcome to the online edition From the Political Deskis an evening newsletter bringing you the latest coverage and analysis from the election campaign, the White House and Congress from the NBC News political team.

In today’s edition, the White House team reports on how Joe Biden and his team are preparing for the verdict in Donald Trump’s hush money trial, plus “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker digs into how voters feel about the state of American democracy.

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Biden team prepares for Trump trial verdict

Monica Alba, Natasha Korecki, Mike Memories

President Joe Biden has largely stayed away from former President Donald Trump’s legal troubles, but with a hush-money trial ruling coming as soon as next week, his campaign is exploring a new, more aggressive shift, according to two people familiar with the strategy.

Whatever the outcome, Biden campaign officials plan to stress to voters that Trump will run in the fall election and that no court proceedings will change that fact.

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A person familiar with the discussions summed up: “Donald Trump’s legal troubles will not keep him from the White House. The only thing that will do that is voting for Joe Biden in November.”

If Trump is convicted at his New York City trial, the Biden team would also have to consider whether to classify him as a “convicted felon,” the person added. “That’s an open question.”

The campaign sees the conclusion of the trial as a turning point for the 2024 election, when the sideshow of the minute-by-minute courtroom drama will end and voters will turn their attention to what will be at stake in November’s election, one of the people said.

The Biden campaign hopes to send a message that if Trump is acquitted or the jury is unanimous, voters should not wait until the outcomes of Trump’s other legal matters are conclusive.

Biden has for the most part been careful to comment directly on the trial, avoiding playing into Trump’s claims that his own legal troubles amount to election interference by the Biden administration.

But the president made waves last week when he agreed to debate Trump in a video posted to social media, tweeting, “I hear I’m free on Wednesdays.” Biden was referring to Trump’s court schedule, which gives him every Wednesday off. The comment was widely shared on social media platforms, and his campaign began selling T-shirts featuring it.

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What are voters saying about the state of democracy?

Kristen Welker

So many issues will be at stake in November: the economy, abortion, immigration, foreign affairs, and even the future of the Supreme Court.

But the 2024 election also raises concerns about the state of American democracy.

Let’s look at the next data point.

A recent poll by the Georgetown Institute for Politics and Public Service found that 81% of voters, including majorities of both Democrats and Republicans, believe American democracy is under threat.

Nearly a third of voters feel so strongly about the issue that they would vote for or against a candidate based on that issue alone, according to an NBC News national poll conducted last month.

A CNN national poll conducted last month also found that a third of voters (68% of Republicans) said they did not believe President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, confirming that election denialism remains a backdrop for the 2024 election.

Another third of voters say they are unsure whether their election votes will be counted accurately, according to a recent national poll by Quinnipiac University.

Half of voters in battleground states are concerned about political violence resulting from the election and its aftermath, according to a new Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll.

Additionally, about 40% of local election officials surveyed by the Brennan Center for Justice this year said they had been threatened, harassed or abused.

Among them are four Secretaries of State from Arizona, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania, who will be joining me this Sunday to talk about the threats they and their families faced after the 2020 election.

For more on these and other issues, tune into “Meet the Press” this Sunday for a bipartisan conversation about American democracy and how to protect it.

That’s all from the Politics Desk. If you have any comments, please email us here. politicsnewsletters@nbcuni.com

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