US President Joe Biden dubbed his predecessor a “handsome guy'” on Friday as Donald Trump's police mugshot went viral. The former POTUS was indicted earlier this week on felony charges of racketeering and conspiracy for plotting to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. While the Republican leader was released pending trial after paying a USD 200,000 bond, this is the fourth time in 2023 that Trump has turned himself in after criminal charges were brought against him by federal and state officials.
“Handsome guy, wonderful guy,” Biden quipped in response to reporters' questions.
The Biden administration has largely avoided commenting on Trump's mounting legal woes, with White House officials stressing the need to preserve judicial and prosecutorial independence.
No previous US president has been charged with criminal offences. But Trump is now facing 91 charges across the four indictments for his alleged actions before, during and after his single-term presidency ended in January 2021.
While artificial intelligence had previously created many a mugshot for the senior politician, this is the first-ever official mugshot of a former US president.
But as his scowling, vengeful stare – captured at a Georgia jail on Thursday – makes the rounds on social media, Trump has decided to take an unusual approach to the situation.
"ELECTION INTERFERENCE! NEVER SURRENDER!" Donald Trump wrote while sharing the mug shot photo on X. This incidentally is his first post on the microblogging platform since his account was suspended shortly after the January 6 riots at the Capitol.
Mugshot merchandise (to support his 20204 campaign) was also released within hours of the photo's release. T-shirts, mugs, stickers and beverage coolers bearing first mug shot of a serving or former US president are now available for sale - often emblazoned with a call to ‘never surrender’.
(With inputs from agencies)
