WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he’s praying for the "right verdict" in the Derek Chauvin trial as the jury continued to deliberate.
“I’m praying the verdict is the right verdict, which I think it’s overwhelming in my view,” Biden said.
Biden, who spoke briefly to reporters in the Oval Office, added that he wouldn’t have made such a comment if the jury wasn't sequestered, indicating he would have withheld his thoughts if the thought the jury could hear them. Jurors were sequestered after closing arguments Monday.
The president confirmed that he spoke with George Floyd’s family by phone and said that he “wanted to know how they’re doing personally [and] talked about personal things.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything about it,” Biden said about the phone conversation, “But Philonise said today on television, it was a private conversation because Joe understands what it’s like to go through loss. They’re a good family, and they’re calling for peace and tranquility no matter what that verdict is.”
Philonise Floyd, younger brother of Floyd, said on NBC’s “TODAY” show that Biden called his family Monday.
"He knows how it is to lose a family member, and he knows the process of what we’re going through. So he was just letting us know that he was praying for us, hoping that everything will come out to be OK."
After closing arguments were delivered by the prosecution and the defense teams Monday, Philonise Floyd said he's "optimistic" about the outcome of Chauvin's trial.
"Me and my family, we pray about it every day," he said. “I just feel that in America, if a Black man can’t get justice for this, what can a Black man get justice for?"
