White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeatedly refused to concede Tuesday that President Joe Biden pre-judged the Derek Chauvin trial by saying he was “praying” for the “right verdict.”
“I’m praying the verdict is the right verdict. Which is – I think it’s overwhelming in my view,” Biden told reporters earlier Tuesday.
Several reporters questioned Psaki about Biden’s comments about the trial, asking her to clarify exactly what the president believed was the “right verdict.”
Psaki refused to acknowledged that Biden wanted Chauvin to be found guilty, even after he suggested the evidence in the case was “overwhelming.”
“He’s certainly not looking to influence,” Psaki said, referring to the case which is currently under deliberation from a jury.
She said the jury was sequestered during deliberation, which was why Biden felt comfortable commenting on the case.
“We’re not trying to provide greater information about predictions of a verdict, we want to leave that to a jury,” Psaki said.
Despite several attempts by reporters to clarify Biden’s comments, Psaki repeated several versions of a prepared statement, noting Biden spoke with George Floyd’s family members on Monday and felt their struggle.
Biden, she explained, “was obviously impacted by his conversation by the Floyd family yesterday as somebody who has lived through loss and trauma himself.”