Biden says Trump ‘should’ have opportunity to appeal conviction

President Biden said Friday after former President Donald Trump was found guilty in his New York criminal trial “he’ll be given the opportunity, as he should, to appeal that decision, just like everyone else has that opportunity.”

Biden added that it was “reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.”

A jury convicted Trump Thursday on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree.

President Biden is speaking out Friday for the first time after former President Trump was found guilty in his New York criminal trial. (AP/Alex Brandon/Julia Nikhinson )

Trump’s campaign warned Biden Friday to “buckle up” following the verdict. 

“Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats confined President Trump to a courtroom for more than eight hours a day for more than six weeks, and he’s still winning,” Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Fox News Digital. “Now that he is fully back on the campaign trail, Biden and the Democrats better buckle up.” 

Then at a press conference at Trump Tower in New York, the former president said he “wanted to testify” on his own behalf, but that “the theory is you never testify.” 

“It’s very important, far beyond me,” Trump said about the case. “And this can’t be allowed to happen to other presidents. It should never be allowed to happen in the future. But this is far beyond me. This is bigger than Trump. This is bigger than me. This is bigger than my presidency,” he said. 

Trump’s campaign also announced Friday that it had hauled in $34.8 million in fundraising from 6 p.m. ET to midnight on Thursday, in the hours after the verdict was read.

They said the haul was “nearly double the biggest day ever recorded for the Trump campaign on the WinRed platform” and emphasized that the guilty verdicts “have awakened the MAGA movement like never before.” 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Brianna Herlihy and Kyle Morris contributed to this report. 

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.