‘Broke Don’ – Biden campaign tests a new nickname for Trump
Joe Biden’s campaign team is road-testing the nickname “Broke Don” for Donald Trump as he tries to capitalise on the former president’s financial woes.
Democrat strategists are taking a leaf out of Mr Trump’s campaign book, borrowing his tactic of creating memorable monikers for his political opponents.
Mr Biden has been branded “Sleepy Joe” by his Republican rival; Hillary Clinton was dubbed “Crooked Hillary” and one-time Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren − who ran into trouble with her claim of Native American heritage − was given the name “Pocahontas”.
Mr Trump’s Republican opponents have also been given nicknames by the former president. Ted Cruz, his main rival for the 2016 presidential nomination was nicknamed “Lying Ted” and Florida senator Marco Rubio was ridiculed as “Little Marco”.
Nikki Haley was mocked as “bird brain”. To reinforce the point, a member of the Trump campaign team once left a birdcage outside her hotel room.
Having previously dismissed the Trump name-calling as childish, the Biden team now believes it is an effective way of highlighting the Achilles heel of Mr Trump who has always boasted of his wealth.
In recent weeks, Mr Biden has punctuated his speeches with barbs poking fun at Mr Trump’s liquidity difficulties brought about by the barrage of litigation he faces.
“Just the other day, a defeated-looking man came up to me and said, ‘Mr President, I have crushing debt, and I’m completely wiped out.’ And I had to look at him and say, ‘Donald, I’m sorry. I can’t help you’.’’
The Democrats, who previously sought to take the moral high ground while campaigning, have now resorted to mocking the former president’s escalating debts.
Last week, Mr Trump’s legal team said he could not finance the $454m (€418m) bond for his New York civil fraud case − having been rejected by 30 surety companies.
Yesterday, Mr Trump rounded on New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has threatened to seize his property if he fails to settle the court debt. Writing on Truth Social, he accused Ms James of having a terrible record on violent crime adding: “But at least she goes after Trump for doing absolutely nothing wrong.” (© Telegraph Media Group Ltd 2024)