Trump, Biden escalate their feud, trade jabs
NEW YORK — Democrats won’t pick their nominee for another year, but President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are acting like the 2020 presidential contest is already a two-man race.
Almost completely ignoring his 23 Democratic competitors, Biden has been laser-focused on Trump — particularly his embrace of racist rhetoric. But it has been Trump’s recent focus on Biden that has surprised both his allies and critics, who believe the Republican president may be unintentionally elevating someone whose candidacy is barely a month old.
Trump’s advisers have privately encouraged him to lay off Biden. He has done the opposite, lobbing more public insults at the former vice president than any other Democrat over the month. Trump’s latest attack was perhaps his most brazen: During a state visit to Japan on Monday, he agreed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s recent description of Biden as a “low-IQ individual.”
A Biden campaign aide on Tuesday called the comments “beneath the dignity of the office.”
“To be on foreign soil, on Memorial Day, and to side repeatedly with a murderous dictator against a fellow American and former vice president speaks for itself,” said Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield.
Democrats on the ground in key primary states report that the intensifying feud has strengthened Biden’s argument that he’s best positioned to take down Trump in 2020. For many voters, nothing matters more than electability. And with Trump’s help, Biden is dominating that debate.
“Clearly, the reason Trump is going after Biden is because he’s perceived as the biggest threat,” Republican strategist Alice Stewart concurred. “From Biden’s standpoint, you couldn’t ask for a better situation.”
Trump’s attacks on Biden are not part of an organized strategy, according to three people familiar with the campaign’s thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. It’s consistent with Trump’s view of himself as his own political strategist, prioritizing his gut over the advice of aides.
In recent weeks, the president has attacked Biden’s intelligence, his energy level, his history of unwanted touching, his record on criminal justice reform and his dedication to Pennsylvania. Trump told Pennsylvania voters during a rally last week that Biden “deserted” them. Biden, a native of Scranton, Pa., left the state as a child when his parents relocated for work.
Few Biden supporters view the attention from the president as a bad thing.
Biden’s campaign seized on Trump’s attacks in a Tuesday fundraising email titled “Donald Trump is scared.”