If Donald Trump wins the U.S. election in November, he might be expected to thank a few people who helped him along the way.
Those nods of appreciation have begun already, it seems, with the Trump campaign telling Newsweek that President Joe Biden’s recent efforts warrant particular thanks.
As Biden spends his final months as commander-in-chief on a valedictory tour of the U.S., touting his administration’s accomplishments, the former president is convinced the appearances are less-than-helpful for Kamala Harris. According to some prominent political operatives, he is not alone in this belief.
Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty
Karl Rove warned in an op-ed last month that Biden’s tour has become a rouse for Trump, pulling attention away from Vice President Kamala Harris and reminding voters of the past four years.
“It’s good,” a Trump campaign official told Newsweek. “More Biden is good for us.”
There is speculation that Biden’s appearances in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan—three of the most critical battleground states in November’s election—were paved by an early decision from the Harris campaign.
Last week, after Biden attended his first White House briefing at the same time as Harris’ campaign stop in Detroit, the Trump campaign sent a press release thanking Biden for “upstag[ing]” Harris and “ensuring the eyes of the world were on him, not Kamala.” During the briefing, Biden had told reporters that he and Harris were “singing from the same song sheet” and called his VP “a major player in everything we’ve done.”
“Biden wanted to make it crystal clear that Kamala is tethered to every single one of his failures — and it worked,” the Trump campaign said.
“THANKS, JOE! Biden Upstages Kamala, Ties Her To Their Disastrous Record,” the subject line of the email read.
Biden has suffered low approval ratings over the last three years. Although he enjoyed relatively high marks when he was first inaugurated—only 30 percent of Americans disapproved of his job—his standings fell underwater after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. FiveThirtyEight shows that in the last year, Biden has struggled to pull his approval rating above 20 percent. As of Tuesday, 54 percent of Americans disapprove of his handling of the presidency.
The Trump official called Biden’s recent media appearances a “self-inflicted error” that resulted from the Harris campaign’s decision to “hide” the Democratic nominee and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, from the press.
Their absence created a media gap that Newsweek‘s source said Biden went on to fill.
“If Biden still happens to be president, there are major national events and disasters happening on his watch…that’s going to need to be addressed,” they said.
Hurricane Helene has forced Harris to share the TV screen with Biden, who addressed damage from the Roosevelt Room while Harris visited FEMA headquarters. Biden and Harris have also taken separate trips to the storm zone, with the president making two stops in North Carolina on Wednesday. His vice president traveled to Georgia to survey the damage.
“Voters don’t have an unlimited attention span. Nor does the media have an infinite amount of space to cover every campaign pronouncement,” Rove, who served as a senior adviser to former President George W. Bush, wrote.
Harris’ campaign did not respond to Newsweek‘s repeated requests for comment.
In stepping aside as the nominee, Biden passed the torch to Harris – but against a backdrop of Democrats who had been casting doubt over his ability to serve a second term.
In August, Politico reported that Biden harbored frustration against former President Barack Obama, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer. Pelosi herself admitted that after five decades of friendship with the president, she and Biden were no longer on speaking terms.
Citing reports that Biden was not happy about his exit from the race, the Trump official suspects that Biden directed his team to get him out in front of the public and to not “sideline him and lock him in a closet and pretend he doesn’t exist.”
“There’s actual tension between the campaign and the White House right now, and I think it’s bubbling up,” the campaign insider said.
Rove said that given Biden’s remarkable unpopularity, it would be difficult for the president to strengthen the case for his vice president.
“This tour sounds like a cry for attention by an unpopular incumbent,” Rove wrote.
Political pundit and author Steve Schier agreed that more Biden would be no help to Harris.
“His increased public presence complicates and muddles Harris’ messaging and attempts by her to ‘turn the page’ and suggest that she is ‘a fresh start,'” Schier told Newsweek.
Rove warned in his op-ed that Biden risks making the same mistake he made last year when he went on his “Bidenomics” victory tour. The president not only traveled across the country but also abroad to promote his economic agenda. Even with a catchy name, Biden’s policies failed to impress Americans, who consistently expressed skepticism about the state of the economy and concern about inflation in the polls.
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Rove said that Biden’s happy talk annoyed the public last time and that this time, in a “pre-election farewell tour” focused on his accomplishments, the president won’t be able to help himself from “vastly oversell[ing] his record—aggravating voters all over again.”
“This near the election, the contenders are fighting for inches. Mr. Biden may give Mr. Trump a couple,” the Republican strategist added. “At this point, take it where you can get it.”
Trump’s campaign couldn’t agree more.
“From our perspective, we’ve got them right where we want them,” an official with the former president’s campaign told Newsweek.
