The 2024 election is set to be a relitigation of former President Donald Trump‘s efforts to overturn the results of the last contest as he and President Joe Biden appear poised for a rematch amid the former president’s three indictments.
But as Biden and Democrats continue to underscore the importance of defending democracy after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and the Justice Department‘s independence, so too will Republicans regarding their congressional investigations into his son Hunter.
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Biden and Democrats repeat that their message concerning democracy and Jan. 6 is separate from special counsel Jack Smith indicting Trump over his endeavors to remain in power after the 2020 election, particularly as it predates Smith’s appointment.
“We’re talking about Donald Trump being a threat to democracy because we all watched what happened on our TV screen on Jan. 6,” one Democratic aide told the Washington Examiner. “Republicans are trying to make investigations part of their campaign, but a big part of that is because they’re trying to muddy the waters.
“We’re going to be talking about abortion, we’re going to be talking about, if it’s Trump, we’re going to talk about how bad his economy was, and we’re going talk about how he tried to overthrow the election,” the source said.
The idea of democracy has been a theme of Biden’s presidency, both in his domestic and foreign policy. The president, his aides, and his allies frequently reference his address last September before the 2022 midterm elections outside Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
“I will not stand by and watch elections in this country be stolen by people who simply refuse to accept that they lost,” Biden said at the time. “As your president, I will defend your democracy with every fiber of my being and I’m asking every American to join me.”
“Democracy is at stake,” he added last week during a fundraiser in Freeport, Maine. “If you just take what he said, on the record, I’m inclined, just a snippet, the stuff he said with him and run those ads, some would say it’s just flat seditious. Not who we are.”
But although images from the Jan. 6 attack were included in Biden’s reelection announcement video, he and other Democrats have avoided commenting on Trump’s indictments. American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic research, tracking, and rapid response organization, was among the only groups to react to Smith charging the former president with one count each of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
“Well, we certainly didn’t plan on having three Trump indictments on our 2023 bingo card,” American Bridge spokeswoman Monica Venzke said Wednesday. “It’s a good reminder that trying to overturn our democracy and illegally install yourself as president has consequences.”
But even if Biden and Democrats do not directly raise the indictments, they will likely be asked about developments related to Trump’s legal matters, especially as the former president and Republicans discuss, and fundraise off of, them, in addition to his known court dates of next March and May, as well as expectations Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis will charge him in connection with his efforts to intervene in Georgia after the 2020 election.
“THIS UNPRECEDENTED INDICTMENT OF A FORMER (HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL!) PRESIDENT, & THE LEADING CANDIDATE, BY FAR, IN BOTH THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE 2024 GENERAL ELECTION, HAS AWOKEN THE WORLD TO THE CORRUPTION, SCANDAL, & FAILURE THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THE UNITED STATES FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS,” Trump wrote on social media Wednesday. “AMERICA IS A NATION IN DECLINE, BUT WE WILL MAKE IT GREAT AGAIN, GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE.”
At the same time, Trump and Republicans, including presidential candidates who are appealing to the former president’s supporters while attempting to distinguish themselves from him, have sought to compare the Justice Department’s treatment of Trump and Hunter Biden.
“I remain concerned about the weaponization of Biden’s DOJ and its immense power used against political opponents,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) also wrote on social media Tuesday. “What we see today are two different tracks of justice. One for political opponents and another for the son of the current president.”
I remain concerned about the weaponization of Biden’s DOJ and its immense power used against political opponents.
What we see today are two different tracks of justice. One for political opponents and another for the son of the current president.
— Tim Scott (@votetimscott) August 2, 2023
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was more specific, referring to the federal investigation into Hunter Biden and congressional testimony from the younger Biden’s former business partner Devon Archer, who himself has been convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud.
“They saw what happened last week with Hunter Biden going into court with a sweetheart deal that would have provided him immunity for prosecutions that hadn’t even happened,” McDaniel told Fox News Wednesday. “And then Devon Archer testifying this week that Biden was on 20 different phone calls with business partners of Hunter Biden. So, he absolutely lied to the American people.”
Republicans would prefer for next year’s election to be a referendum on Biden, according to Republican strategist Alex Conant.
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“Given his low poll numbers, the incumbent president would face stiff headwinds,” Conant said. “If it’s a choice election between two unpopular candidates, it’s a lot less predictable.”
Biden has less than a percentage point advantage over Trump in national polls, per RealClearPolitics, 45% to 44%, as the former president leads the Republican primary field by 36 points with 54% of the vote, in contrast to Gov. Ron DeSantis‘s (R-FL) 18%.
