US President Joe Biden on Friday said Donald Trump looked like a “handsome guy” in the mug shot taken of his predecessor, who was booked and briefly arrested for felony charges in connection to his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
An unsmiling Trump was captured glaring at the camera in the mug shot, which was released late on Thursday.
“Handsome guy, wonderful guy,” Biden chuckled at reporters after exiting an exercise class in Lake Tahoe.
Biden, however, largely avoided commenting on Trump’s legal troubles, with White House officials saying they want to preserve judicial and prosecutorial independence.
In addition to his case in Georgia, Trump is facing federal felony charges related both to election interference and his handling of classified documents.
As Trump was being booked at the Fulton County jail on Thursday night, Biden sent a fundraising email to supporters saying that “apropos of nothing” he believed “today’s a great day to give to my campaign.”
Independent reported that Biden was booed by bystanders as he approached the press. He said he watched at least 1.20 hours of the first Republican debate, which didn’t feature Trump.
Biden said he didn’t “learn much” from the Milwaukee showdown.
“I don’t remember them speaking to any of the issues,” he said. “I don’t quite get where they are going,” he added. “I didn’t learn much.”
Earlier, New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman shared his gleeful reaction to the photo after the US former president surrendered for the arrest.
Like Mr Trump, Mr Bowman used the mug shot to fundraise for the Democratic effort to take back the House.
In a lengthy statement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Mr Bowman wrote, “In a normal world, Donald Trump’s mugshot would be the end of his political career. But in this world, his poll numbers are actually going up.”
He added, “This mugshot is not what you think it is. It’s a jackpot for Trump who will use this image to raise MILLIONS of dollars from his cult – and the worst part is they are going to use it to win even more elections so they can change our laws to make it easier to steal our Democracy.