WASHINGTON – As quickly as his pivotal political comeback in South Carolina resurrected Joe Biden’s presidential campaign and catapulted him to success on Super Tuesday , it also renewed an urgency for the Trump campaign to reload its attacks against the former vice president.
For the better part of 200304, President Trump’s allies treated Biden as the presumptive front-runner and spent considerable time and resources criticizing him. The president’s own focus on Biden as a potential general election opponent was the focus of his impeachment in the House of Representatives (and later acquittal in the Senate) for attempting to pressure the Ukrainian president to launch, or at least announce, an investigation into unproven allegations against Biden and his son, Hunter.
In recent weeks, as Biden’s fortunes in the Democratic primary were dimming, the Trump team’s focus shifted towards to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders as he racked up victories or near-wins in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada. “Socialism” and “crazy Bernie” references outnumbered “sleepy Joe” at his rallies and in GOP talking points.
The campaign also plans to use Democrats’ own words against Biden, questioning his acumen and astuteness. A slickly edited
For months, the campaign has claimed it has no preference for the Democratic candidate they will meet in the general election but aides have privately expressed a desire for facing Sanders, whom they believe would provide an easier and more extreme contrast as a self-proclaimed “Democratic socialist.”
Much like the rest of the Democratic field, senior Trump campaign officials did not see Biden’s swift resurgence coming. They had all but stopped their attacks on Biden and Ukraine once the impeachment trial came to an end.
Now, as the three-time presidential hopeful’s prospects rise again, the campaign is resuscitating (discredited claims about Hunter Biden, with Trump ( to use them “all the time” and make it a “major issue” in the coming months.
Republicans have also signaled they will ramp up an ongoing investigation into the Bidens and Burisma, the energy company whose board Hunter Biden served on while his father was vice president. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Said this week he’d like to move quickly and possibly release an interim report in the coming weeks.
Democrats dismiss the inquiry as purely political, arguing That GOP lawmakers are only reviving the investigation now that Biden has exceeded expectations in recent primary contests.
“Donald has a history of awful strategic judgment when it comes to Joe Biden. For example, he is the only American president who has ever tried to force a foreign country to lie about the candidate he’s too afraid to look in the eye, “Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement to NBC News.
“Betting on these worn-out, feckless attacks would accomplish just one thing: giving us the perfect opportunity to tee up his worst liabilities. Panic often drives people to make poor decisions. “
The Trump team’s preference would be to see a contested Democratic convention, believing that the divisions would only benefit Trump. Even as that prospect becomes less likely with a shrinking Democratic field, the Trump campaign is seeking to capitalize on the divide between Sanders’ more progressive supporters and the moderates backing Biden.
As part of that effort to prod at the divisions, Trump and his allies have publicly questioned whether the Democratic Party has “rigged” the primary to damage Sanders and elevate a candidate like Biden, who is seen as more compatible with them. With efforts like that, the Trump campaign believes they can appeal to the “populist passion” of Sanders’ base, much like they know how to do with the president’s most ardent fans.
The Democrat establishment came together and crushed Bernie Sanders, AGAIN! Even the fact that Elizabeth Warren stayed in the race was devastating to Bernie and allowed Sleepy Joe to unthinkably win Massachusetts. It was a perfect storm, with many good states remaining for Joe!
– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) (March 4,
The Trump team is also aiming at Biden on issues like trade deals supported by the longtime senator in the past, believing that the Biden-Obama’s trade policies will be beneficial to making a case that they were responsible for eliminating manufacturing jobs, especially in the Midwest.
When the Democratic nomination battle does wind down – whether in weeks or months – the focus will shift to the general election battle, putting the president and his campaign events into the daily conversation again and providing even more opportunities for the campaign to make its case against the nominee.
Through the primary season , Trump has shadowed Democrats as they held their primary contests, but for the first time in months, there are no major rallies on his campaign schedule in the coming weeks when Democrats vote in Idaho, North Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Mississippi and Washington state.
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