President Joe Biden and his aides would prefer a rematch between the incumbent and his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, in next year’s general election.
But Biden, the White House, his campaign, and most Democratic officials are remaining mum amid Trump’s second indictment, the first time a sitting or former president faces federal charges, criminal or otherwise.
REPUBLICAN PRIMARY: BIG TENT OR BIG TOP?
Never prevent a rival from “destroying” their own credibility, according to former Democratic strategist Christopher Hahn.
“Elections are won on the margins,” Hahn, a former staffer of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), told the Washington Examiner. “While this may rally his base in the short term, this makes it near impossible for him to reclaim the White House.”
“This is also a reminder that karma comes for us all. Trump was elected in 2016 by successfully convincing swing voters that his opponent mishandled classified documents,” the Aggressive Progressive podcast host said, alluding to then-Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Former Democratic operative Sandy Maisel agreed Biden and Democrats cannot risk playing “into Trump’s political narrative,” criticizing Republicans for being hypocritical as the self-declared “party of law and order.”
“If Trump is indicted twice more — in Georgia for trying to influence the election results and in D.C. for his role on Jan. 6 — I think it becomes harder for him to keep any GOP political leaders on his side, though his base will not desert him,” the Colby College visiting politics instructor and one-time candidate said.
“Eventually, the narrative will become what Trump said about Clinton in 2016, that if he were elected, he could not govern because he would be in court defending himself all of the time,” he added.
Trump roughly has an average 2 percentage point advantage over Biden in early general election polls, 45.5% to 43.7%, according to RealClearPolitics. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who is the only other Republican primary candidate polling in double digits, despite being 31 points behind the former president, has an average 1-point lead on Biden, 44.6% to 43.4%.
But Biden and his camp are not publicly commenting on Trump being indicted by special counsel Jack Smith on 37 felony counts across eight federal statutes, including the Espionage Act, related to the alleged retention of classified information, obstructing justice, and making false statements, as the president toured the battleground state of North Carolina Friday.
Trump’s documents, not returned after they were subpoenaed last year, allegedly pertain to “defense and weapons capabilities of the United States and foreign countries,” including nuclear programs, from the CIA to the Pentagon and National Security Agency. Smith’s indictment, unsealed Friday, alleges the former president kept documents at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort in a ballroom, bathroom and shower, an office space, his bedroom, and a storage room, discussing them with his one-time chief of staff’s biographers and someone from his political action committee, all of whom do not have clearance.
White House deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton repeatedly told reporters Friday she would not respond to questions about Trump’s indictment, but she did underscore the importance of the rule of law, describing it as “a bedrock principle of our democracy.”
“That’s precisely why we’re not commenting,” she said on Air Force One en route to Goldsboro. “He believes in respecting the independence of the DOJ and protecting the integrity of their processes.”
Biden learned of the indictment through Trump’s social media account and news reports, per Dalton, who reiterated that the White House was “prepared” for any unrest among the former president’s supporters before, during, and after his arraignment Tuesday in Miami in front of Aileen Cannon, a judge he appointed.
Biden, who can be an undisciplined communicator, was on message Friday when asked after an economic and workforce address at Nash Community College in Rocky Mount whether he had spoken to Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“I have not spoken with him at all, I’m not gonna speak to him, and I have no comment on what happened,” he said.
The White House, too, has adopted a “business as usual” attitude, advising reporters of presidential trips next week to Connecticut and Philadelphia, in addition to an on-the-record briefing Monday regarding rural high-speed internet funding. That is in step with Biden’s 2024 election Rose Garden strategy, campaigning from the bully pulpit, at least this year.
Simultaneously, general election politics do not apply to the primary. Trump’s polling and fundraising numbers surged last spring after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged the former president with 34 felony counts concerning falsifying business records, allegedly to cover up hush-money payments he made before the 2016 election to Stormy Daniels, among others.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is, so far, the only primary candidate to condemn Trump, contending his “actions — from his willful disregard for the Constitution to his disrespect for the rule of law — should not define our nation or the Republican Party.
“While Donald Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the ongoing criminal proceedings will be a major distraction,” he said before the indictment was unsealed. “This reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and end his campaign.”
Others, including DeSantis, complained about the “uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation,” referring to Clinton and Hunter Biden. Multimillionaire entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy promised to pardon Trump.
Those candidates were backed by congressional colleagues, such as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and the House Judiciary Committee, heeding calls from Trump and Trumpworld to defend the former president.
“It is unconscionable for a president to indict the leading candidate opposing him,” McCarthy said, again, before the indictment was unsealed. “I, and every American who believes in the rule of law, stand with President Trump against this grave injustice. House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponization of power accountable.”
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Meanwhile, Smith similarly defended the Justice Department, the FBI, and their eight-month investigation, emphasizing Trump is presumed innocent and that his office “will seek a speedy trial in this matter consistent with the public interest and the right of the accused.”
“Our laws that protect national defense information are critical to the safety and security of the United States, and they must be enforced,” he said Friday. “We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.”
