CNN’s Tapper on Biden’s ‘Lock Him Up’ Gaffe: ‘Politically Lock Him Up ... by the Way, Not an Expression’

TAPPER: “Van, let me — let me ask you about something President Biden said when speaking to New Hampshire Democrats. He was talking about Donald Trump. Let’s roll that clip.”

[Clip starts]

Biden: “We got to lock him up. Politically lock him up. Lock him out. That’s what we have to do.”

[Clip ends]

TAPPER: “He said ‘we got to lock him up’ and then he realized, whoops, I shouldn’t have said that. And then he said ‘politically lock him up,’ which is, by the way, not an expression. And as — it would be malpractice if they didn’t, the Trump campaign is all over that comment.”

Jones: “Well, sure. Look, I think Biden has done a good job overall trying to stay away from this trap of seeming like he’s politicizing Department of Justice, et cetera. He’s done a good job. Today, he put his foot in his mouth. He took it right back out, tried to switch it up. But this is really no longer about Joe Biden. This is about Kamala Harris and Donald Trump who has so alarmed four-star generals, so alarmed people whose job is to protect America that they are breaking precedent and coming out and saying Donald Trump is a danger. If you are an undecided voter and you’re trying to figure out what to do, yesterday should have been a very sobering moment. The worst thing that Kamala Harris is going to do is maybe you won’t like her tax policy. The worst thing that Donald Trump is going to do is now an unknowable threat. You’ve never seen a chief of staff, you’ve never seen the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff come in and say this man is dangerous. It’s never happened. And so, this is — these aren’t people who are running for office. These are not people who are part of any kind of a Democratic Party operation. These are people who feel that their their responsibility to the country means they must break their silence. And I think if you’re trying to figure out what to do now at this point, yesterday should have been a very sobering moment.”