MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski questions the Biden campaign's decision to hold a press conference outside Trump's trial, while Tyler defends the move as a way to highlight the threat to democracy.
MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski has challenged the Biden campaign's decision to hold a press conference outside Donald Trump's criminal trial in Manhattan, questioning whether it was appropriate for the campaign to politicize a court proceeding.
The press conference, held on Tuesday, featured Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler, actor Robert De Niro, and two former police officers who were at the Capitol on Jan. 6. They spoke out against Trump's "continued threat" to democracy and his "embrace of political violence."
However, Brzezinski expressed concern about the location of the press conference, arguing that it was inappropriate for the campaign to get involved in a court proceeding.
"Last week when the members of Congress showed up to support Donald Trump, I called it unbecoming of the office, of their serving the people of their district," Brzezinski said. "American citizens are not supposed to politicize a court proceeding, and I feel the same way about the campaign."
Tyler defended the campaign's decision, saying that they needed to be creative in reaching the electorate in an increasingly fragmented media environment.
"One thing that this campaign understands is that we operate in an increasingly fragmented and fractured media environment, and so when you have one thing like this trial that's taking up a lot of oxygen, you have to be creative, you have to use every tool at your disposal to break through that clutter and communicate your message to the electorate," he said.
Tyler also argued that the focus of the press conference was on highlighting the threat to democracy that Trump poses.
"So that's what Robert De Niro and officers [Michael] Fanone and [Harry] Dunn were speaking to down in Manhattan yesterday. They were speaking to the fact that Donald Trump still regularly embraces political violence, is calling for a bloodbath if he loses this election, and is pledging to rule as a dictator on day one," Tyler said.
Brzezinski further questioned whether it was a good decision for the campaign to get so close to the court proceedings, raising concerns that it could backfire.
Tyler said that he had no concerns about the location of the press conference, but acknowledged the need to be sensitive to the ongoing trial.
"We're always mindful of the fact that there's a trial going on, and we don't want to do anything to interfere with that," he said. "But we also feel like it's important to speak out against the threat that Trump poses to our democracy."
De Niro, who has been a vocal critic of Trump, said during the press conference that he joined the Biden campaign to "preserve our freedoms" and "hold on to our humanity."
"Donald Trump wants to destroy not only the city, but the country. And eventually he could destroy the world," De Niro said.
The Biden campaign's press conference outside Trump's trial has raised questions about the appropriateness of politicizing a court proceeding. However, the campaign has defended the move as a way to highlight the threat to democracy that Trump poses.
