Some Democrats raised concerns on Monday about the establishment media’s newfound scrutiny of President Joe Biden instead of former President Donald Trump.
If the election centers on Biden and a referendum on his policies, the Democrats could lose the White House in November, political experts say. In turn, if the media places Trump in the center of the political discourse, scrutiny on Biden and his policies would be minimal and would ultimately benefit Democrats.
“The focus has to shift back to Trump and what rights we lose if he’s president,” Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) told the New York Times. “The last three elections have shown us if you’re the focus, you lose.”
“We’ve got to stop talking about this,” Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) said. “We need to get back to talking about Donald Trump.”
“My goal is to defeat Trump,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) added. “Those calling for him to step down and those wanting him to stay in are on the same page about the fear of MAGA.”
Not everyone believes the focus will shift away from Biden. Over the weekend, a total of nine Democrat lawmakers reportedly called for Biden to drop out of the presidential race, again fueling the media negative Biden media cycle.
“Trump is a profoundly flawed candidate,” David Axelrod alleged to the Times. “It is going to be very difficult now for the Biden campaign to put the focus on him.”
The Times reported on Biden’s failed strategy to make the race all about Trump:
The Biden campaign’s effort to raise questions about Donald J. Trump’s ability to be president has boomeranged into a referendum on the president’s own competence.
…
There is no doubt in Democratic circles that Mr. Biden must make the election about Mr. Trump, as he did in 2020, when his winning coalition stretched from progressive Democrats to moderate Republicans.
Then, as Mr. Biden won support from Republicans and other voters who sought a return to normalcy in Washington, he ran as a transitional candidate. He said he saw himself “as a bridge, not as anything else” while standing beside Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, giving the distinct impression he was a vessel to help the country move on from its Trump period.
Seventy-two percent of voters believe Biden should not be running for a second term, up nine points from February, a CBS News/YouGov poll found Tuesday.
Another 72 percent of voters say Biden does not have the “mental” and “cognitive health” to serve, up from 65 percent since June 9.
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
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