Michael Avenatti says he couldn't choose right now between Trump and Biden for president
Michael Avenatti, once a chief foe of Donald Trump, tells Fox News Digital that he thinks the economy and border are disasters for President Biden's re-election bid.
Michael Avenatti enthusiastically endorsed Joe Biden in 2020 and was one of Donald Trump's most high-profile foes during his presidency. Now, speaking from his California prison, he said he couldn't choose between the two in November, that is if he had the opportunity.
"Frankly, I'm on the fence," Avenatti told Fox News Digital.
He was particularly sharp on Biden on two issues that have topped 2024 polling concerns with the public: the border crisis and the economy.
"I think there are certain things that Biden has done that have been positive, and I think there are a number of things that he's done that have been negative," he said. "I think the situation of the border is a disaster. I think it's only a matter of time before somebody comes across that border and commits a heinous crime in the United States. I'm certainly not hoping for that. I pray it doesn't happen, but I think it's only a matter of time."
Michael Avenatti has emerged as an unlikely defender of former President Trump.
He also called the country's economic situation "a disaster."
"Don't believe your lying eyes may be a great song lyric, but it's a terrible campaign strategy. And that's what the strategy that's being used by the Biden White House right now as it relates to the economy," he told Fox News Digital. "They keep trying to convince people that the economy is doing great, and meanwhile these people, day in and day out, go to the gas station, they go to the grocery store, and they're reminded two, three, four times that the economy is not doing great, at least not as it relates to them."
The Biden and Trump campaigns didn't respond to a request for comment.
It's unlikely Biden or Trump is craving the endorsement of Avenatti, who can't vote as an imprisoned felon. The disgraced attorney, who burst onto the national scene in 2018 with his aggressive representation of Stormy Daniels, is serving 19 years in prison for an array of crimes, including trying to extort Nike for $25 million, stealing from Daniels' book advance and defrauding clients.
In 2019, Avenatti quickly endorsed Biden when he entered the crowded 2020 field, although by then his legal woes had begun piling up, and his cable news appearances dried up. Avenatti admitted to "bad decisions" in his interview with Fox News Digital but wouldn't get into the particulars of his cases, saying they're being appealed.
Former President Trump and President Biden will have a rematch of their 2020 race. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
It's a long road from 2018, when Avenatti was a media star as he and Daniels sought to reverse the non-disclosure agreement she signed about her alleged affair with Trump, which he has denied. From doing hundreds of interviews on CNN and MSNBC, to appearing on Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher's late-night programs, to guest-hosting "The View," to posing with Daniels for a Vogue photo shoot, he was seemingly everywhere.
At one point, he even flirted with a 2020 Democratic presidential run. MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, one of many liberal media figures who embraced Avenatti for being a threat to Trump, gushed that a speech he planned to give in Iowa "hit a lot of the right notes."
But in a remarkable heel turn, Avenatti has expressed sympathy for Trump as he faces multiple criminal charges that hang over his bid to reclaim the White House, including the ongoing New York v. Trump case involving the hush money agreement with his former client, Daniels. Avenatti has insisted it has nothing to do with gaining Trump's favor for a potential pardon but rather is his honest assessment of the case.
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Michael Avenatti, now serving 19 years in prison for a variety of crimes including extortion and fraud, was a media star in 2018 as he took on President Trump. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
He told Fox News Digital that grandstanding prosecutors were trying to make a name for themselves and take the electoral choice between Trump and Biden away from the American people. He's also criticized Daniels and star witness Michael Cohen in the New York case as lacking credibility.
Daniels attorney Clark Brewster fired back that Avenatti was a "thrice convicted felon for fraud, repeated acts of dishonesty and extortion" and was simply seeking relevancy from his incarceration.
Avenatti repeatedly predicted in 2018 that Trump wouldn't finish out his first term, although he did. Asked whether he thinks Trump would complete a second term – if elected again – due to his legal issues, Avenatti wouldn't speculate. But he did warn that the flood of charges this year might politically play into Trump's hands.
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"I never thought that I would see a day where there would be four simultaneous criminal prosecutions brought against a leading presidential candidate," he said.