President Joe Biden has largely steered clear of former President Donald Trump’s legal woes. But with a verdict in the hush money trial coming as soon as next week, Biden’s campaign is exploring a shift to a new, more aggressive posture, according to two people familiar with the strategy. Regardless of the outcome, top Biden campaign officials plan to stress to voters that Trump will be on the ballot in the fall and that no potential court proceeding will change that fact. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up here to receive it weekdays. A person familiar with the discussions summed it up this way: “Donald Trump’s legal troubles are not going to keep him out of the White House. Only one thing will do that: voting this November for Joe Biden.” If Trump is found guilty at his trial in New York City, the Biden campaign will also have to consider whether to brand him as a “convicted felon,” this person added. “It’s an open question.” The campaign views the conclusion of the trial as one of the 2024 election’s inflection points, when the minute-by-minute sideshow of courtroom drama will end and the time for voters to focus on what’s at stake in November will arrive, one of the sources said. The Biden team expects to send a message that if Trump is acquitted, or if there is a hung jury, voters shouldn’t wait for the outcome of his other legal issues to be determinative, either. For the most part, Biden has been careful about directly commenting on the trial, avoiding playing into Trump’s narrative that his legal issues amount to election interference from the Biden administration. But the president made a splash last week when, in a video posted to social media, he agreed to debate Trump, musing, “I hear you’re free on Wednesdays.” Biden was referring to Trump’s courtroom schedule, which has allowed a day off each Wednesday. The line was widely shared across social media platforms, and the campaign started selling T-shirts with it. Read more → |