Biden attacks 'convicted criminal' Trump in latest campaign ad

Video is part of $50 million spending as polls show rivals locked in tight race

Joe Biden, right, and Donald Trump will face each other in their first 2024 televised debate on June 27. AFP

President Joe Biden's campaign on Monday released an ad attacking Donald Trump following his criminal conviction, framing the November 5 election as a choice between a self-serving felon and a hard-working leader.

The 30-second ad lays out black-and-white photos of Trump in courtrooms, including during his New York trial that resulted in his conviction last month for 34 felonies over hush-money payments.

“In the courtroom, we see Donald Trump for who he is,” a narrator says.

“He’s been convicted of 34 felonies, found liable for sexual assault and he committed financial fraud.”

The video then moves on to shots of Mr Biden smiling, hugging and high-fiving supporters.

“This election is between a convicted criminal who’s only out for himself and a president who’s fighting for your family.”

The video is part of a $50 million investment in advertisements in battleground states in June, the Biden campaign said on Monday, and includes more than $1 million targeting black voters and Asian Americans.

Last month, a jury in New York found convicted Trump on charges he sought to influence the 2016 election by concealing payments to an adult film star after an alleged extramarital affair.

A civil jury in New York last year found Trump liable of sexually assaulting a woman in the 1990s and then defaming her.

In October last year, another civil jury found Trump liable of vastly inflating the value of his assets to defraud banks and insurers.

Polls show that Trump's most recent conviction could be a weakness in his re-election campaign, particularly among disaffected Republican voters, and political independents.

A poll published last week by the Associated Press and the NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research found that 15 per cent of Republicans and 32 per cent of independents approve of Trump's convictions.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in all cases, and claims that the trials are politically motivated. He called the US a “fascist state”.

“Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats' weaponised the justice system against President Trump and this new ad once again proves the sham trial was always meant to be election interference,” spokeswoman for the Trump campaign Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Monday.

“But Americans see through it.”

Polls show that opinions among Trump's hardline supporters have been largely unchanged by his convictions.

The development comes as polls show that the two candidates are headed for a tightly contested race. Age has emerged as a significant issue this election between 81-year-old Mr Biden and Trump, 78.

Last week, Mr Biden's son Hunter was convicted of lying about his drug use to purchase a gun illegally.

Voters are also concerned about the economy, immigration and reproductive rights.

The two are expected to face each other on June 27 in the battleground state of Georgia for their first televised debate.