President Biden’s campaign is doubling down on Jan. 6-related attacks against former President Trump in the coming weeks following the poor performance of the White House’s ‘Bidenomics’ messaging.
Biden will launch the new wave of attacks on Friday, framing Trump as a threat to democracy during a speech at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. Senior campaign officials highlighted the location’s connection with George Washington and Trump’s attempts to cling to power, contradicting Washington’s willingness to step down from office, according to Axios.
‘Over the last three years, MAGA Republicans haven’t shied away from the Big Lie — they’ve doubled down,’ Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez told NBC News.
Biden has given speeches on the anniversary of Jan. 6 in both 2022 and 2023, but he refrained from mentioning Trump either time. He is expected to take a different approach on Friday.
Biden’s campaign is mirroring the pivot with a new ad focusing on Trump and January 6.
‘All of us are being asked right now: What will we do to maintain our democracy?’ Biden says in the ad. ‘History is watching. The world is watching. And most important, our children and grandchildren will hold us responsible.’
‘This ad serves as a very real reminder that this election could very well determine the very fate of American democracy,’ Rodriguez told reporters.
The switch in messaging comes after the White House’s ‘Bidenomics’ campaign sputtered with voters amid still-rising inflation.
Biden had abandoned using the term in speeches by the end of November, following a chorus of criticism from within his own party.
‘Whoever came up with the slogan Bidenomics should be fired,’ one anonymous Democratic strategist told NBC at the time. ‘It’s probably the worst messaging you could ever imagine.’
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign is cruising going into the Republican primaries, gaining momentum in large part due to the criminal cases against him and recent state decisions to remove him from primary ballots.
