Joe Biden will officially start his war with President Trump today in Iowa. Biden has been laying low since he announced his campaign, but that is all over now.
He will go after Trump for two reasons. One, he wants to make this about Trump versus Biden, not Biden versus the entire Democratic primary field.
The second - because he thinks it will work with the base. The problem for Biden is the same as Hillary’s - America does not trust the establishment anymore.
The conventional wisdom is Biden can beat Trump and should be the nominee. But they are wrong just like they were in 2016. To beat Trump you have to make the same anti-establishment arguments as Trump makes, but just better and more convincing. Biden can’t do that.
From CBS: Joe Biden plans to call out President Trump as an “existential threat” to the United States, according to prepared remarks shared with CBS News. The bashing by the front-runner for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and former vice president would come as he and Mr. Trump travel throughout Iowa Tuesday trying to galvanize their supporters.
Biden will label Mr. Trump an existential threat to decency, America’s standing in the world, and democracy.
Biden hopes to draw a “sharp contrast” between himself and the president on several key issues, according to the campaign. Among them: tariffs, climate change and restoring American “values.”
The “cashiers at Target … know more about economics than Trump,” Biden will assert.
On climate change, Biden is expected to chide the president’s previous climate-related comments, saying, “If he was just another rich guy sitting in his gold-plated apartment in Manhattan tweeting about how those pointy-headed scientists don’t know anything, it wouldn’t matter — but he’s president.”
Beyond policy and international relations, Biden is set to make an emotional appeal about Mr. Trump’s “crude language” and “embarrassing behavior,” such as his recent name-calling of Bette Midler on Twitter.
“What are you going to do when your kids start tweeting like Trump and say, “Well, the president did it,” Biden will ask crowds Tuesday.
From The Hill: Former Vice President Joe Biden, a 2020 White House hopeful, is expected to go after President Trump during an appearance in Iowa on Tuesday.
The Democratic front-runner will target the president’s tariff war with China, climate change and attempt to get rid of the Affordable Care Act during his speech in Davenport, Iowa, according to prepared remarks obtained by The Hill.
“There’s a lot of ways Trump fails the basic standard to be president — but one of them is this: Donald, it’s not about you. It’s about America,” Biden is planning to say.
“Did he do anything to signal that he’s prepared to walk away from the thugs he’s embraced on the world stage — from Putin to Kim Jong Un? No. He did none of that. Instead, he gets up in the middle of the night to attack Bette Midler. He attacks the mayor of London. He attacks the American Speaker of the House. It was a stunning display of childishness for the whole world to see,” he’ll add.
He is expected to say that the U.S. is “in a competition” with China during the speech.
“We need to get tough with China. They are a serious challenge to us, and in some areas a real threat,” Biden plans to say. “And every single step that Donald Trump is taking is only exacerbating the challenge.”
“How many sleepless nights do you think Trump has had over what he’s doing to America’s farmers?” he plans to add, “Here’s the answer: Just as many as he had when he stiffed the construction workers and electricians and plumbers who built his hotels and casinos. Zero.”
Biden is also expected to hit Trump over his apparent retreat on the Affordable Care Act, a signature achievement of the Obama White House.
“Remember when Trump’s Justice Department decided to argue that the Affordable Care Act in its entirety is unconstitutional just a few months ago?” Biden plans to say. “Now he’s got his tail between his legs and barely mentions it — doesn’t even tweet about it — because he knows the American people will give him a thrashing in 2020 just like they gave the Republicans in 2018 for trying to get rid of it.”
