It took less than three hours for the Trump campaign to turn this moment — as President Biden left the State Dining Room on Friday after speaking on the Middle East — into a campaign video.
The big picture: The video was created the day after a New York jury found former President Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.
State of play: At 1:42 p.m. on Friday, NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell shouted as Biden walked out: “Mr. President, can you tell us, sir: Donald Trump refers to himself as a political prisoner and blames you directly. What’s your response to that, sir?”
- Biden didn’t say anything, but turned to the press pool and made the face captured in this story’s lead photo.
- An in-house Trump campaign team added horror music, and put the video in slow-mo.
- At 4:21 p.m., campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita tweeted the video and labeled it “The face of corruption” — a phrase you’ll hear again.
Reality check: Despite what Trump and GOP officials keep saying, he was convicted in a New York State court that Biden has nothing to do with.
What we’re watching: Axios co-founder Mike Allen asked a Trump official if the campaign might use the video as a paid ad.
- “We might,” the official said with a chuckle. “Because we’re gonna raise a lotta money off it.”
