By : Biden declines to comment on Trump indictment as he heads to Mississippi town hit by tornado
President Joe Biden on Friday morning steered clear of weighing in on his predecessor’s indictment, declining to respond to questions from reporters about that development while traveling to a Mississippi town hit by a tornado last week.
“I’m not going to talk about the Trump indictment,” Biden said.
A Manhattan grand jury voted Thursday to indict Trump, marking the first time in history that a former U.S. president will face criminal charges. With the indictment yet to be unsealed, the specifics aren’t clear, but a district attorney has alleged that the 45th president broke the law for his role in a hush-money payment to an adult-film actress.
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Biden is scheduled to give a speech at around 2:25 p.m. Eastern time Friday in Rolling Fork, Miss., in which he will “reaffirm his commitment to supporting the people of Mississippi as they recover and rebuild from the devastating storms,” the White House said.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden plan to tour the disaster zone on foot and to meet with local residents and are due to get a briefing Friday from federal, state and local officials on the response and recovery efforts.
Powerful tornadoes tore through parts of the Deep South a week ago, killing at least 23 people in Mississippi and taking an especially devastating toll on Rolling Fork.
