President Biden and Vice President Harris called the family of George Floyd after the jury delivered a guilty verdict against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, saying “now there’s some justice,” and vowing that his “legacy” will stay “intact.”
A panel of jurors found Chauvin guilty Tuesday on all three charges in connection with the May 2020 death of Floyd.
Chauvin, 45, was charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Chauvin’s bail was immediately revoked and he was led away with his hands cuffed behind his back.
After the verdict was delivered, Biden and Harris called the Floyd family, celebrating the jury’s decision.
“Nothing is going to make it all better, but at least now there’s some justice,” Biden is heard saying on speaker phone in a video posted to Twitter on Tuesday by attorney Ben Crump. “We’re going to start to change now. We’re going to start to change now.”
Biden added: “You’ve been incredible, you’re an incredible family, I wish I was there to put my arms around you.”
The president went on to say that Chauvin was “guilty on all three — on all three counts,” calling it “really important.”
“We’re going to get a lot more done,” Biden said.
Harris then is heard taking the phone, saying she is “so thankful to the entire family.”
“Your courage, your commitment, your strength,” Harris said. “This is a day of justice in America.”
Harris added that “in George’s name and memory we are going to make sure his legacy is in tact and that history will look back at this moment and know that this is an inflection moment.”
“He had to sacrifice so much and your family did too,” Harris said. “But we believe, with your leadership and, and the president that we have in the White House, that we’re going to make something good come out of this tragedy, okay?”
Biden is heard again, saying: “And you better all get ready, because when we do it we’re going to put you on Air Force One and get you here…I guarantee it.”
Biden, earlier, as the jury began deliberations, said he was “praying the verdict is the right verdict.”
BIDEN ‘PRAYING’ CHAUVIN JURY REACHES ‘RIGHT VERDICT,’ CALLING CASE ‘OVERWHELMING’
Biden, on Monday, spoke to the family of George Floyd, the Black man in Minnesota who died after he was seen on video – handcuffed – saying “I can’t breathe” as Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck. His death sparked nationwide protests last spring and summer over police brutality against minorities and systemic racism.
Chauvin is charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. He has pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd said in an interview on NBC News early Tuesday morning that the president had called the Floyd family on Monday after the jury began deliberations in the trial.
“I can only imagine the pressure and anxiety they’re feeling, and so I waited until the jury was sequestered, and I called,” Biden explained, referencing his call to Floyd’s family. “I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but Philonise said today on television, and he accurately said it was a private conversation because Joe understands what it was like to go through loss.”
Biden added: “They’re a good family, and they’re calling for peace and tranquility, no matter what that verdict is. I’m praying that verdict is the right verdict, which I think it’s overwhelming, in my view. I wouldn’t say that unless the jury was sequestered now.”
PRESIDENT OFFERED SUPPORT IN MONDAY CALL WITH GEORGE FLOYD’S FAMILY
Biden also called the Floyd family last year – soon after Floyd’s death, which came during the 2020 presidential election campaign – and later the then-presidential candidate traveled to Houston to meet with the family and express is condolences.
On Monday, the judge in the Chauvin trial said that he wished elected officials would stop referencing the case “especially in a manner that is disrespectful to the rule of law” so as to let the judicial process play out as intended.
Judge Peter Cahill was referring to controversial comments over the weekend by Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, who urged protesters in Minnesota to “stay in the street” and “get more confrontational” if Chauvin is not found guilty.
“I’ll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned,” Cahill told Chauvin’s attorney.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell criticized the comments by both Biden and Waters.
The longtime senator from Kentucky noted on Tuesday afternoon that “sometimes a fair trial is difficult to conduct” before emphasizing that “it is certainly not helpful for a member of Congress, and even the president of the U.S. to appear to be weighing in in public, while the jury is trying to sort through this significant case.”
Asked about the president’s comments on the trial, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden doesn’t see that as “weighing in.”
“I don’t think he would see it as weighing in on the verdict,” Psaki highlighted.
Psaki said the president “certainly is not looking to influence, but he has been touched by the impact on the family. Hence, he called the family yesterday and had that discussion. I expect he will weigh in further once there is a verdict.”
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Psaki reiterated that Biden chose to spoke out after the jury had been sequestered, and is currently deliberating a verdict.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Paul Conner contributed to this report.