Washington — President Joe Biden took on his newly convicted opponent Friday (Saturday AEST), declaring that a New York jury’s guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump should be respected and denouncing efforts to undermine the justice system as “reckless,” “dangerous” and “irresponsible.”

Breaking his long silence over Trump’s legal troubles, Biden directly and unambiguously characterised the putative Republican nominee as a lawbreaker whose conviction amounted to a victory for the rule of law. And he rejected assertions that the prosecution was a political witch hunt, noting that it was not a case brought by his own administration.