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CNN
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President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are fighting as if their general election showdown is eight days away, not eight months away. A tense weekend campaign in which the rivals visited the key battleground state of Georgia revealed the risks of conflict, strategies and vulnerabilities between the two sides.
Biden this week built on his successful State of the Union address to flesh out the message that while he cares about Americans’ jobs, health care and the nation’s global leadership, Trump is preoccupied with himself. will try. Biden is expected to lay out policy ideas in his annual budget proposal expected Monday, which will not be on the agenda in the Republican-controlled House, but will highlight his economic pitch to voters. It could foreshadow a possible agenda for his second term.
The unusual tangle of the 2024 election and President Trump’s legal problems will also come back into focus Thursday with a hearing in the federal secrets case in Florida. Judge Eileen Cannon will hear arguments from Trump’s lawyers and special counsel Jack Smith’s team, which could help decide whether to take the case to trial before the election.
Mr. Biden’s own controversy over classified documents returned on Tuesday as House Republicans pursued special counsel Robert Hur, who cleared Mr. Biden of criminal charges but questioned his recollection of key details. It will put him in the spotlight, and it will affect the core themes of the Republican campaign.
Biden wants to solidify the image he projected in his State of the Union address: an energetic politician at the helm of his faculty, campaign and country.
The speech helped defuse months of headlines about the decline of the presidency. For example, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told ABC News on Sunday: “Everyone who watched that speech saw President Biden not only in what he said, but in the way he said it, that he was a leader who was in command and had a clear vision.” ”
But it will be difficult to extend last week’s victory through a grueling months of campaigning. Mr. Biden is now headed for a post-speech mad dash in battleground states, where he could rekindle concerns among voters that he is too old for a second term. , rhetorical stumbling blocks must be avoided. And all the way until November, he will be exposed to external events, both domestic and international, that cannot be summarized well in a televised speech.
Still, a successful State of the Union address can make the president’s purpose clear not only to voters, but also to himself and his campaign. You can also lock in strategic and thematic choices. Thursday’s speech, for example, crystallized his case for reelection more clearly than ever before.
In keeping with his theme, Biden on Saturday accused President Trump of being an affront to America’s founding values and a force for “resentment, vengeance and retaliation.” He also gave a grand welcome to Hungarian strongman leader Viktor Orbán at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, rebuking his rival for highlighting Trump’s dictator-worship and anti-democratic views.
The Hungarian prime minister’s rule has weakened democracy, eroded the judiciary and press freedom, and is seen by some pro-Trump conservatives as a model for the former president’s possible second term. President Trump posted a video of his guests supporting him on his social media platforms on Sunday. “It’s up to Americans to decide for themselves, and it’s up to us Hungarians to openly admit that it would be better for the world and better for Hungary if Donald Trump was back in power,” Orbán said in the video. It depends,” he said. .
Trump’s campaign has at times signaled that the former president will project a more level-headed persona as he curries favor with suburban voters who despise him and who could swing the election. History shows this is just spin.
On a wild Saturday night in Georgia, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who resigned last week and is now a candidate, denounced her extremism. He relentlessly mocked Biden’s lifelong stutter, demonstrating once again that cruelty and bullying underpin his political brand. He called the news media “criminals” and made further false claims about election fraud. Mr. Trump, who has disrupted more presidential traditions than all of his predecessors, also complained that Mr. Biden downplayed the State of the Union address, usually accusing his opponents of violations of which he was guilty. said. He slammed Biden’s “angry and hateful rant” and added: “He is a threat to our democracy.”
In a speech in November, Mr. Trump made his choice clear to voters, conjuring an apocalyptic vision of a nation besieged by immigrant infiltration, crime and economic hardship.
The election will take place amidst deepening polarization in the country. Voters are facing two competing visions as they navigate the lasting trauma of the pandemic, after a difficult few decades marked by economic shocks, foreign wars, and heated debates over social issues such as abortion and gender. You are forced to make a choice. And all of this is unfolding against the backdrop of an immigration crisis and social pressures caused by a diversifying population that some conservative Americans see as a threat.
Immigration remains a big issue for Biden
The weekend showed that immigrants could dominate the race, further deepening the divisions that have made it impossible for Congress to ease a long-held regime. President Trump met behind the scenes in Georgia with the parents of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant. Her stolen life is a pillar of President Trump’s campaign, which claims the United States is plagued by an out-of-control border crisis.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Georgia, on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday accused President Trump of exploiting the killing as an example of “the worst politics of insanity,” saying, “I think it makes people It keeps them away from politics,” he added.
In an interview with MSNBC that aired Saturday, Biden said he should not have called the murder suspect “unlawful” in his State of the Union address, as he sought to defuse criticism from progressives over his choice of words. He also criticized Trump’s obstruction of bipartisan legislation to strengthen border security, which he highlighted in a speech last week.
But the former president, who rose to power in 2016 by provoking immigration, was unrelenting on Saturday when it came to the Riley incident, accusing Biden of apologizing to the alleged killer. “He was an illegal immigrant. He was an illegal alien. He was an illegal immigrant and should not have been in our country and never would have been under Trump policies,” the former president claimed.
The intensity of the exchange, and the fact that polls show the former president is more trusted than the current president to handle immigration, underscored Biden’s deep vulnerabilities.
Despite Biden’s vigor at the State of the Union, the age issue remains — and both sides know it.
Republican reaction to Biden’s speech was mixed, suggesting that Biden had won a tactical victory with an energetic presentation. Republicans claimed ahead of the event that the 81-year-old president was shaken and confused. Shortly after, they claimed he was too fussy and noisy. But the 77-year-old Trump has renewed his attacks, focusing on Biden’s stuttering, with his campaign releasing a new digital ad showing footage of Biden falling and appearing disoriented.
The Biden campaign recognizes that it needs to do more to address concerns about Biden’s ability to serve a full second term. Biden says to the camera in his company’s new ad. “I’m not young, it’s no secret. But here’s the deal, I understand how to get things done for the American people.” Biden said in the ad that he wants infrastructure reform. But Trump touted what he didn’t, contrasting his leadership during the coronavirus crisis with his predecessor’s confusion and denying the nation’s constitutional right to abortion, which was struck down by the Supreme Court’s conservative majority. Built by Trump, who vows to restore it. “Donald Trump believes that the president’s job is to take care of Donald Trump. I believe that the president’s job is to fight for you,” Biden said, adding that he believes the president’s job is to take care of Donald Trump. highlighted another important contrast.
But pro-Trump Republicans will use Mr. Hsu’s expected testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to try to shift the focus back to Mr. Biden’s cognitive abilities.
Biden is scheduled to visit New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Michigan this week as part of a tour of battleground states including Pennsylvania that will decide the outcome of the election after last Friday’s State of the Union address.
Saturday’s trip to Georgia reflects the reality that Biden is on the defensive across the board, with approval ratings below 40%, a level that usually destroys first-term presidents. Recent polls show him trailing in most battleground states.
And even in 2020, when the country was reeling from President Trump’s selfish and erratic leadership during the pandemic, Biden won these key battleground states by just a few thousand votes. Now he looks even more vulnerable as he is being judged based on his own record.
Each state has its own specific requirements. But Trump and Biden’s visit to Georgia on Saturday shows that both recognize its importance. “Last time Joe Biden won Georgia by about 12,000 votes, and by the way, the former president tried to steal the votes,” Warnock said on Sunday’s “State of the Union.” “And yet here we are. Those two were here yesterday because the road to the White House goes through Georgia.”
The former president may benefit from the state’s lack of competitive Senate races compared to 2020. But Trump, who has had a long feud with popular Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, hasn’t done much to win back the critical suburban voters he alienated.
Given Georgia’s importance, voters should expect to hear a lot about Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. She heckled Biden in her State of the Union address and is considered the epitome of MAGA extremism by his campaign because of her antics and her ubiquitous statements. of former president.
“There’s a guy who’s starting a general election campaign with Marjorie Taylor Greene. You can tell a lot about a person by who they’re dating,” Biden said Saturday.
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