拜登总统权衡了他对2010年判决的希望试验周二，在陪审团评议开始时与乔治·弗洛伊德的家人交谈后，德里克·肖万的第一次。
拜登在椭圆形办公室告诉记者:“我祈祷判决是正确的，在我看来，这是压倒性的。”。“我不会这么说，除非——陪审团现在被隔离了，听不到我这么说。”
拜登没有明确表示“正确的判决”是有罪还是无罪。作为总统，拜登一直小心翼翼地不评论前明尼阿波利斯警官因弗洛伊德死亡谋杀案受审的潜在结果。
周二晚些时候，当被问及更具体的含义时，白宫新闻秘书珍·普萨基(Jen Psaki)辩称，拜登不一定主张一种结果胜过另一种结果。
“我不认为他会将此视为影响裁决的因素。他传达了全国许多人的感受，那就是对家庭的同情。这是多么艰难的时刻。对于全国各地密切关注这场审判的许多美国人来说，这是一个多么艰难的时刻。陪审团被隔离了。这与昨天的情况不同，他在评论中也提到了这一点。
当被问及美国人认为拜登的评论是他认为肖万应该被判有罪是否有错时，普萨基表示反对。
“我认为人们应该得出的结论是，总统和许多美国人一样，受到了审判的深刻影响，”她说。“他昨天与弗洛伊德一家的谈话深深地影响了他，他理解人们已经筋疲力尽，他们累了，这种暴力和创伤我们在全国各地都看到了，并且在过去几周继续看到。希望这是他们从他的评论中得到的。
手表:Pres。拜登谈到德里克肖万的审判，而陪审团在审议期间被隔离:“我祈祷判决是正确的判决，这是——我认为这是压倒性的，在我看来。”拜登昨天与乔治·弗洛伊德一家进行了交谈。https://t.co/nQADuvUAUQpic.twitter.com/oiSHVMwucg
——美国广播公司新闻政治(@美国广播公司政治)2021年4月20日
参议院共和党高层将拜登的言论与民主党众议员玛克辛·沃特斯(Maxine Waters)的争议相提并论，后者呼吁如果肖万没有被判有罪，抗议者应该“更加对抗”。
“我们制度的标志之一是人们有权得到公平的审判。米奇·麦康奈尔(Mitch McConnell)周二对记者表示:“在这种情况下，有时很难进行公平的审判，但当陪审团试图解决这个重大案件时，国会议员，甚至美国总统，似乎在公开场合发表意见，肯定是没有帮助的。”
沃特斯坚称她说的是对抗司法系统。
据Psaki称，自从乔治·弗洛伊德(George Floyd)去世后，拜登与弗洛伊德一家建立了关系，这促使人们对美国的种族不公正进行了反思，周一打电话给弗洛伊德一家，向他们转达他正在为他们祈祷。
“我只能想象他们感受到的压力和焦虑。所以，我一直等到陪审团被隔离，然后——我打了电话，”拜登周二说。他说他不打算把这个电话公之于众，但是乔治的哥哥，菲洛尼斯，在周二早上的一次电视采访中谈到了这个电话。
“他只是打电话来，他知道失去一个家庭成员是什么感觉，他知道我们正在经历的过程。他只是让我们知道他在为我们祈祷，并希望一切都会好起来，”菲洛尼丝说在NBC的“今日秀”节目中，指的是拜登对那些经历过自己妻子和两个孩子遇难等悲剧的人的深切同情。
“他们是一个好家庭。不管判决结果如何，他们都在呼吁和平与安宁，”拜登说。
“我们只是谈了一点。我想知道他们过得怎么样，就我个人而言，”他补充道。
作为总统候选人，拜登对弗洛伊德的死更直言不讳，在竞选活动中经常谴责这一事件。
“我们又一次听到了这些话，他们听到了，‘我无法呼吸’——这是一种如此残忍的行为，它不仅剥夺了美国又一个黑人的公民权利和人权。这剥夺了他的人性，”拜登在5月29日，即事件发生五天后说。
就在今年2月，拜登说弗洛伊德被“谋杀”，同时表示希望世界看到弗洛伊德的死亡将有助于带来变化。
拜登与弗洛伊德的家人的关系是在他死后不久开始的。新冠肺炎大流行爆发后，拜登第一次离开他的家乡特拉华州威尔明顿，是在弗洛伊德的葬礼之前，在休斯顿与家人见面。
“互相倾听是治愈美国的开始。这就是副总裁@JoeBiden在一个多小时内对# GeorgeFloyd一家所做的。他倾听着，倾听着他们的痛苦，分担着他们的痛苦。这种同情对这个悲伤的家庭来说意味着全世界，”家庭律师本·克伦普在推特上谈到拜登的家人时说。
拜登还为弗洛伊德的葬礼录制了一段视频，在他的信息中直接针对弗洛伊德的女儿吉安娜。
“小吉安娜——正如我昨天见到你时对你说的，你真勇敢。爸爸正在往下看，他为你感到骄傲。我知道你想念那个只有他才能给的熊抱。那纯粹的快乐骑在他的肩上，让你可以触摸天空。他花了无数个小时玩你想玩的任何游戏，因为你的微笑，你的欢笑，你的爱是此刻唯一重要的东西。我知道你们有很多问题是任何一个孩子都不应该问的，这些问题是太多的黑人孩子不得不问了好几代的。为什么?爸爸为什么走了?”拜登说。
普萨基指出，她希望拜登在判决宣布后“发言”。她不愿透露谁在为总统的反应提供最佳的基调或形式。
“你知道，我认为这将来自总统的内心，他将准备以某种形式与它交谈——我不想提前知道那种形式会是什么样子——当我们知道判决是什么样子的时候，”普萨基星期二说，白宫正准备国民反应做出裁决。
据一名白宫官员透露，为了准备一个结果，拜登最近与明尼苏达州民主党州长蒂姆·瓦尔兹(Tim Walz)进行了交谈，白宫高级官员正在与民权领袖以及明尼苏达州和全国各地的市长进行接触。
根据Psaki的说法，拜登一直在密切关注审判，并提供最新情况。
Biden says he's praying for 'the right verdict' in Chauvin trial
President Biden weighed in on his hopes for a verdict in thetrialof Derek Chauvin for the first time Tuesday, after speaking with George Floyd's family at the start of jury deliberations.
"I’m praying the verdict is the right verdict, which is -- I think it’s overwhelming, in my view," Biden told reporters in the Oval Office. "I wouldn’t say that unless the -- the jury was sequestered now and not hearing me say that."
Biden did not explicitly say whether the "right verdict" is guilty or not guilty. As president, Biden has been careful not to comment on a potential outcome in the former Minneapolis police officer's trial for murder in Floyd's death.
Later Tuesday, when questioned to be more specific about what he meant, White House press secretary Jen Psaki argued Biden was not necessarily advocating for one outcome over another.
"I don't think he would see it as weighing in on the verdict. He was conveying what many people are feeling across the country, which is compassion for the family. What a difficult time this is. What a difficult time this is for many Americans across the country who have been watching this trial very closely. The jury is sequestered. That is different from where things stood just yesterday, and he noted that in his comments as well," Psaki said.
Asked if it would be wrong for Americans to view Biden's comment as him saying he believes Chauvin should be found guilty, Psaki demurred.
"I think what people should conclude is that the president, like many Americans, has been deeply impacted by the trial," she said. "He was deeply impacted by his conversation with the Floyd family yesterday, that he understands that people are exhausted, that they're tired, that this type of violence and trauma we've seen around the country and continued to see over the past couple of weeks. And hopefully, that's what they take away from his comments.
WATCH: Pres. Biden talks about Derek Chauvin trial while the jury is sequestered during deliberations: "I’m praying the verdict is the right verdict, which is—I think it’s overwhelming, in my view."Biden spoke with the George Floyd family yesterday.https://t.co/nQADuvUAUQpic.twitter.com/oiSHVMwucg
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics)April 20, 2021
The Senate's top Republican compared Biden's comments to the controversy over Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters calling for protesters to get "more confrontational" if Chauvin isn't found guilty.
"One of the hallmarks of our system is people are entitled to a fair trial. Sometimes a fair trial is difficult to conduct under these kinds of circumstances but it is certainly not helpful for a member of Congress, and even the president of the United States, to appear to be weighing in in public while the jury is trying to sort through this significant case," Mitch McConnell told reporters Tuesday.
Waters maintains she was talking about confronting the judicial system.
Biden has cultivated a relationship with the Floyd family since George Floyd's death spurred a reckoning on racial injustice in America, calling the family Monday to check in and convey he was praying for them, according to Psaki.
"I can only imagine the pressure and anxiety they’re feeling. And so, I waited till the jury was sequestered, and -- and I called," Biden said Tuesday. He said he didn't intend to make the call public, but George's brother, Philonise, spoke about the call during a television interview Tuesday morning.
"He was just calling, he knows how it is to lose a family member and he knows that, the process what we are going through. He's just letting us know he's praying for us and hoping that everything will come out to be okay," Philonisesaidon NBC's "Today Show," referring to Biden's deep empathy for those who have experienced tragedies like the loss of his own wife and two children.
"They’re a good family. And they’re calling for peace and tranquility no matter what that verdict is," Biden said.
"We just talked a little. I wanted to know how they were doing, just personally," he added.
As a candidate for president, Biden was more forthcoming on his views of Floyd's death, frequently condemning the incident on the campaign trail.
"And once again we heard the words, and they heard them, 'I can’t breathe' — an act of brutality so elemental, it did more than deny one more black man in America his civil rights and his human rights. It denied him of his very humanity," Biden said on May 29, five days after the incident.
As recently as February, Biden said that Floyd was "murdered," while expressing his hope that the world seeing Floyd’s death would help bring about change.
Biden's relationship with Floyd's family began shortly after his death. The first time Biden left his home region of Wilmington, Delaware, after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was to meet with the family in Houston, ahead of Floyd's funeral.
"Listening to one another is what will begin to heal America. That's just what VP @JoeBiden did with the family of #GeorgeFloyd – for more than an hour. He listened, heard their pain, and shared in their woe. That compassion meant the world to this grieving family," tweeted family attorney Ben Crump of Biden's visit with the family.
Biden also recorded a video for Floyd's funeral service, addressing Floyd's daughter Gianna directly in his message.
"Little Gianna — as I said to you when I saw you yesterday, you are so brave. Daddy is looking down and he is so proud of you. And I know you miss that bear hug that only he could give. That pure joy riding on his shoulders so you could touch the sky. The countless hours he spent playing any game you wanted because your smile, your laugh, your love is the only thing that mattered in at the moment. And I know you have a lot of questions that no child should have to ask, questions that too many black children have had to ask for generations. Why? Why is Daddy gone?" Biden said.
Psaki has noted she expects Biden to "speak" after a verdict is announced. She would not say who is advising the president on the best tone or format for that reaction.
"You know, I think that's something that will come from the President's heart, and he will be prepared to speak to it in some form or another -- I don't want to get ahead of what that format will look like -- when we know what the verdict looks like," Psaki said Tuesday, as the White House braces fornational reactionto a verdict.
In preparation for an outcome, Biden has recently spoken to Minnesota's Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, and top White House officials are engaging with civil rights leaders as well as mayors in Minnesota and across the country, according to a White House official.
Biden has been closely watching the trial and provided updates, according to Psaki.
