Donald Trump Jr. smears Biden with Instagram post
WASHINGTON >> President Donald Trump’s eldest son on Saturday posted a social media message suggesting Joe Biden was a pedophile, an incendiary and baseless charge that illustrates the tactics the president is turning to as he attempts to erase Biden’s early advantage in key state polls.
Donald Trump Jr., who is one of his father’s most prominent campaign surrogates, put on Instagram a picture of Biden saying: “See you later, alligator” alongside an image of an alligator saying: “In a while, pedophile.”
When a reporter shared the Instagram post online, the younger Trump, echoing one of his father’s tactics, wrote on Twitter that he was only “joking around” and noted that he had included emojis of a laughing face.
Yet in the same Twitter post, he also reprised his original insinuation. He accused the former vice president of “unwanted touching” alongside a collage of photographs of Biden showing affection for children. The misleading images were mostly taken from public swearing-in ceremonies at the Capitol, where the former vice president warmly greeted lawmakers and their families. Biden has been accused by some adult women of inappropriate behavior but he has never faced any suggestion of misconduct with a child. Trump himself faces roughly two dozen accusations of sexual misconduct, and in the “Access Hollywood” tape from 2005 bragged about sexually assaulting women and grabbing them by their private parts.
Trump Jr.’s inflammatory and baseless claim comes as his father and the reelection campaign have sought to weaken Biden and attack other perceived enemies with an onslaught of allegations and insinuations rarely seen in modern elections. A spokesman for the president’s campaign did not respond to an email message asking if they condone the younger Trump’s message.
Andrew Bates, a spokesman for Biden, said: “No repulsive, manipulative tactic will change the subject from how almost 90,000 Americans have paid for Donald Trump’s coronavirus negligence with their lives and how the booming economy he inherited from the Obama-biden administration is now suffering from Depression-level job losses.”