In the middle of former President Donald Trump‘s storm of legal troubles, the man most able to benefit from it has been noticeably silent — a purposeful move.
President Joe Biden, while making an occasional side quip, has largely refrained from commenting on Trump’s 34 felony counts for fraudulent business records. According to Politico, this strategy is deliberate, as his camp is wary of giving the former president any ammunition to support his claim that the cases are political interference from Biden’s administration.
To a lesser degree, Biden’s team also subscribes to Napoleon Bonaparte’s famous adage — “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” They are banking on Trump hurting himself.
When asked about Trump’s legal difficulties, the campaign is usually evasive and uses the opportunity to attack the former president from a different, political angle.
“Look, Donald Trump and his team are going to have to speak to his legal issues,” Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler, said on a press call Monday, Politico reported. “No matter where Donald Trump is, whether it’s in Mar-a-Lago or a courtroom or anywhere else — he will be focused on himself, his toxic agenda, his campaign of revenge and retribution. That’s going to be a continuation of the contrast the American people have been able to see since this campaign began.”
When Trump was caught dozing off during one of his court hearings, Biden’s campaign only made a veiled reference in a campaign memo, titled, “Wake Up Donald: After Stormy Abortion Ban Coverage, Trump Poll Memo Attempts to Hush Panic.”
The exception to the rule is quick quips from Biden, intended to showcase his wit and humor.
“Under my predecessor, who’s a little busy right now, Pennsylvania lost 275,000 jobs,” Biden said in a Wednesday speech at the United Steelworkers Headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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However, some in Biden’s camp take issue with the strategy, worrying that the president may be missing a golden opportunity. An anonymous senior 2020 Biden campaign official speculated that the opportunity may prove too tempting, prompting a change in strategy before November.
“I do think I would like to see them a little more in the forefront or at least addressing it,” he told the outlet. “Given where we are, we’ve got to take some risks. And I do think even if it’s not going to be President Biden, I think some of the surrogates should address it directly. I’ll be honest, I have a feeling that the closer we get to Election Day, they will.”
