The White House has returned from the Fourth of July summer break apparently tanned, rested, and ready to attack Republicans.
But it is too early to discern if a more assertive communications strategy will improve President Joe Biden‘s approval ratings before next year’s election as former President Donald Trump, again, dominates the news cycle with the prospect of a second federal indictment.
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All campaigns need a focal point to crystallize their own message, and Biden wants to define Republicans by their most extreme elements, according to the Brooking Institution’s Darrell West.
“His goal is to convince the public that the GOP as a whole is out of the mainstream and too extreme to govern effectively,” West told the Washington Examiner. “Republicans such as [Sen. Tommy] Tuberville and [Rep. Marjorie] Taylor Greene are helping Biden by regularly providing extreme statements and behavior.”
“Tuberville is blocking major Defense Department confirmations, while Taylor Greene says things that galvanize the Democratic base,” he said. “Sometimes the best way to define oneself is in opposition to the other party.”
The new communications strategy coincides with this week’s highly anticipated House Oversight Committee hearing showcasing the testimony of IRS whistleblowers Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, who claim there was political interference in Hunter Biden‘s criminal tax investigation, and, conversely, the White House’s bipartisan congressional picnic. The younger Biden is poised to plead guilty and avoid prison time for tax and gun crimes if he can remain clean for two years.
“The president respects the rule of law. He respects the independence of the Department of Justice as it relates to their conduct and investigation,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday. “[Republicans] wanted to run a midterm, or their message during the midterm [was] how do we lower costs for the American people? It doesn’t seem like that’s their focus right now. Their focus is continuing to do political stunts.”
Simultaneously, Biden’s average approval-disapproval rating is 41%-55%, according to FiveThirtyEight. The president has less than a percentage point lead on Trump in a hypothetical 2020 general election redo, 44%-43%, per RealClearPolitics. He is 1.5 points ahead of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Trump’s most competitive 2024 primary opponent, 43.5%-42%. Trump confirmed special counsel Jack Smith sent him a target letter this week concerning the federal Jan. 6 investigation.
“Joe Biden is the least popular president since Jimmy Carter. He is in no position to attack anyone,” a Tuberville spokesman said.
But as Biden ramps up his criticism of Republicans, a Monmouth University poll published Wednesday additionally found that the president’s attempt to emphasize his economic policies have not yet convinced the public it is better off under his leadership. The survey revealed Biden has net negative approval ratings regarding his handling of jobs and unemployment (47%-48%), transportation and energy infrastructure (43%-51%), and inflation (34%-62%).
“The president has been touting ‘Bidenomics,’ but the needle of public opinion has not really moved,” Monmouth University Polling Institute Director Patrick Murray said. “Americans are just not giving him a lot of credit when it comes to the economy.”
Even during Biden’s five-day trip to the United Kingdom and Europe last week, he and his aides have appeared more ready to scrutinize Republicans.
Jean-Pierre began two consecutive briefings this week blasting Tuberville for blocking military promotions to protest the Pentagon offering leave and reimbursing servicemembers and their families if they are required to travel for an abortion.
“I wanted to start today, once again, by calling out an unprecedented harm that Sen. Tuberville’s actions have to our military readiness and military families, to every branch of our armed forces, disrespecting those who serve and the families who serve with them,” she told reporters. “As the president said in Helsinki last week, Republicans in Congress should step up and speak out.”
In a separate memo, White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates mocked the Alabama Republican for not winning a national championship during his nine years as Auburn University’s head football coach.
“But as a senator, he has managed to earn national condemnation for the unprecedented harm he’s doing to the American military and to the families who serve with those in uniform,” Bates wrote. “He should reverse course and choose his country over himself.”
Jean-Pierre, too, underscored Greene comparing Biden’s policies to President Franklin Roosevelt’s “creation of Social Security” and Lyndon Johnson’s “creation of Medicare,” ripping so-called Bidenomics for “reducing poverty in rural areas.”
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“This is the first time that we are aware of being attacked for trying to reduce rural poverty, although we probably should have seen that coming since Marjorie Taylor Greene is also trying to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, policies that are responsible for high-paying manufacturing jobs coming back to her own district,” the press secretary said.
Biden’s campaign then compiled a video of the Georgia Republican’s comments to amplify them on social media, amassing 40 million views in less than a day.
