THE Joe Biden made an impromptu political pitch on Tuesday, declaring that to prevent Donald Trump’s radical right-wing agenda from being implemented, “we have to lock him in.”

“Politically, let’s lock him in,” he quickly corrected, cheered by those present at the campaign office of his vice president and his party’s presidential candidate, Kamala Harrisin New Hampshire.

In general, the White House has been extremely discreet about the various pending court cases of Mr. Trump, the Republican former president and candidate for re-election on November 5.

When Mr Trump faced off against Hillary Clinton in 2016, the tycoon frequently demanded at campaign rallies that his Democratic rival be investigated and jailed, with supporters chanting “lock her in!” at the time. there had been talk of a break with American political mores.

The Republican campaign team was quick to seize the opportunity presented by outgoing President Biden’s statement to attack the Democratic party.

“Joe Biden just admitted the truth: his and Kamala’s (s.a. Harris) plan has always been to politically harass their opponent, (s.a. former) President Trump, because they can’t beat him” clearly, argued Caroline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican campaign.

At some of Ms Harris’s campaign rallies, supporters chanted “lock him in!”

But the vice president was quick to react: “For half a minute,” she said during an appearance earlier this month. Before adding: “The courts will deal with this. Let’s deal with November, okay?”

With the election now less than two weeks away, the polls continue to portend a highly lopsided battle between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.