Biden campaign trolls Trump over classified documents case during Dr Phil interview

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Louise Thomas

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As Donald Trump sat down for an interview with the TV psychologist Dr Phil on Thursday, the Biden campaign took the opportunity to troll the former president.

In a wide-ranging, hour-long interview, Trump took several hits at the Biden campaign, telling Dr Phil, real name Phil McGraw, that President Biden is being controlled by “very evil forces” with a “sick ideology”.

He did not elaborate on who he believed the controlling forces were.

“There are people that control Biden. Totally true. I think I know who they are largely,” Trump said. “But there are people that control him. They’re very smart, very energetic. Possibly they’re real believers, what their sick ideology is.”

Amid his remarks, staffers at Biden-Harris HQ took the opportunity to troll the former president as his interview, which was filmed at his Mar-a-Lago estate, was being aired.

“That stage looks familiar...” the Biden-Harris HQ account tweeted, with a side-by-side comparison of Trump’s interview and a picture of boxes of classified documents, which are at the center of one of four criminal cases against the former president, stacked on the same ballroom stage that is seen in the background of Trump’s interview.

Trump was charged in June last year by special counsel Jack Smith with illegally retaining classified documents taken with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago after he left office in January 2021, and then obstructing government demands to give them back.

The documents allegedly contained classified information ranging from US nuclear secrets to the nation’s defense capabilities, according to an indictment, and were in a ballroom at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as well as a bathroom.

Trump has pleaded not guilty.

The trial has stalled in Florida federal court, with Judge Cannon, who is overseeing the case, still yet to set a date for the trial to begin.

Meanwhile, Trump’s supporters are attempting to stall things further, with House judiciary chairperson Jim Jordan on Monday telling Fox News that he’s preparing an appropriations package that would “defund the lawfare activities” of state and federal prosecutors leading “politically sensitive investigations”, including special counsel Jack Smith.

The classified documents case is one of four criminal cases the former president faces.

Last week he became the first former US president to be criminally convicted in history when he was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal a “hush money” payment made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election.

He is also involved in two other criminal cases involving his alleged efforts to overturn the result of the 2020 election.

Trump denies all charges against him.