WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is trying to get laughs at Donald Trump's expense by unleashing a mockery aimed at digging into thin airs about the former president and reminding the nation of his missteps. trying to get votes.
Like a comic honing a routine, the Democratic president has been experimenting and expanding on his jokes over the past few weeks. It started with jabs at his Republican opponent's finances, and now Biden regularly criticizes Trump's coiffed hair, spoiled upbringing, and trying to make a few extra bucks by selling special edition Bibles. I'm teasing you.
These jokes are the latest attempt to crack the code on how to clap back at Trump, whose own insult comedy content is redrawing the boundaries of what is acceptable in modern politics. Few people have had much luck trying to take the high road or be mean to Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.
“This is a constant challenge,” said Eric Schultz, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama. Trump is “not a rules-player. So it's up to Biden to figure out how to adapt to and abide by the new rules of engagement.”
So far, Biden is trying to thread a delicate needle to improve his chances of winning a second term. Although he uses humor to paint Trump as a buffoon unfit for the Oval Office, the president stops short of making the election a laughing matter.
Even when you're stuck in a New York courtroom for your first criminal trial, a few jokes can cheer up an audience more than a big policy victory, drawing valuable attention away from your opponents who should be in the spotlight. Sometimes I find myself doing something wrong.
The latest example occurred at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner on Saturday night. Trump has for years called Biden “sleepy” and mocked his age (Biden is 81, Trump is 77), but Trump appears to be falling asleep in court. After appearing to do so, Biden shot back at the insult.
Biden nicknamed his rival “Sleepy Don,” adding, “I like that. I might use him again.”
“Of course, the 2024 election is in full swing. Yes, age matters,” he said. “I'm a grown man fighting a 6-year-old.”
Trump didn't seem to appreciate the ribbing, calling the dinner “absolutely awful” and Biden posting on his social media platforms that it was “an absolute disaster.”
But the jokes at the annual black-tie affair, which also features professional comedians (this year, NBC's “Saturday Night Live's” Colin Jost), are nothing new. The real meat of Mr. Biden's daily routine takes place during his campaign speeches, when between reading policy proposals and announcing legislative accomplishments, he takes a moment to criticize Mr. Trump.
“Remember when he was trying to deal with the coronavirus?'' Why not inject yourself with bleach?'' he suggested. “He missed out. It all went to his hair.”
A day earlier, in Tampa, Florida, three Trump-appointed justices voted with a majority in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization to attack President Trump over the Supreme Court's decision overturning abortion protections, and subsequently The conversation turned to abortion sales. $60 “God Bless the USA” Bible.
Mr. Biden said of Mr. Trump, “He described Mr. Dobbs' decision as a 'miracle.'” “Maybe it comes from the Bible he's trying to sell. Wow. I thought I'd buy it just to see what's in it.”
Mr. Biden has rarely mentioned Mr. Trump's trial, but he has joked about the former president's financial troubles, which began shortly after he was ordered to pay $454 million in a New York civil suit.
“Just the other day, a guy came up to me who looked defeated and said, 'Mr. Biden,'” Biden said at a fundraiser in Dallas last month. Mr. President, we need your help. I'm cornered by debt. It's completely wiped out. 'I had to say, 'Donald, I can't help you.' ”
Even when Biden ventures into humor, he rarely strays far from the policy conversation. He signed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill into law after opponents failed to do so despite repeatedly holding events at the White House to rally support for an idea that never materialized. I like to mention it.
“He promised 'Infrastructure Week' every week for four years, and he never built a single piece of crap,” Biden told laughing union members this month.
The dilemma is that Mr. Trump, who tells voters that the entire American political system is hopelessly corrupt, can get away with name-calling that would backfire on other candidates. During the rally, Mr. Trump gave Mr. Biden a short speech, imitated him as a frail old man who couldn't find the stairs, and called the president a “perverse” and “crazy tyrant.”
Republicans said the insults will only intensify as Biden attempts to give them a taste of their own medicine.
Trump campaign spokesman Stephen Chan said Biden was “limping around like a short-circuited Roomba,” failing to address an “out-of-control border” and “runaway inflation,” referring to robot vacuums. “
Rick Tyler, who worked on the 2016 presidential campaign for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, said voters have different expectations of Trump, who first rose to fame as a real estate developer and reality star. He said he has high standards. TV show “The Apprentice”.
“Celebrities don't really have a standard, and Mr. Trump is one of them,” Tyler said. For politicians running against Trump, it's “like trying to play a sport with the wrong equipment.”
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, discovered this acutely during the 2016 Republican primary. After Rubio joked that Trump's “hands are small,” implying that other parts of him are also small, Trump shot back: , “I assure you there will be no problem.”
“No one has ever been in the ring with Trump and beat Trump,” said Alex Conant, communications director for the Rubio campaign.
Karen Finney, who advised Democrat Hillary Clinton during her 2016 White House campaign, said Trump can get his opponents to “communicate on his terms, not yours.”
“It's kind of a balancing act,” she said. “It could take all day just to respond.”
But where President Trump's humor can be frank, Biden sometimes tries to get the most out of being modest. During a visit to Pittsburgh earlier this month, Mr. Biden spoke at length about Mr. Trump's trial and was sure his audience was already into the joke.
“I'm a little busy right now,” Trump said.
