Biden steps onto 2024 campaign trail in Trump’s shadow
Naomi Lim
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President Joe Biden is returning to the campaign trail for the first time since announcing his reelection bid with a labor union-hosted rally in the must-win state of Pennsylvania.
But as former President Donald Trump, his most likely Republican opponent based on early polling, continues to dominate political headlines, it is unclear whether the public will be receptive.
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Biden has been underscoring his record and rolling out new initiatives, such as Thursday’s junk fees development, from the White House in the Rose Garden or bully pulpit strategy previewed by his campaign. But as the first financial disclosure deadline since his announcement approaches on June 30, the president is becoming more political, including with Saturday’s rally in Philadelphia, where he is expected to be endorsed by the AFL-CIO, the earliest the labor federation has publicly supported a candidate in a presidential race.
Biden’s message on Saturday will likely emphasize the economic progress he claims he has made since Jan. 20, 2021, and economic policies he is still implementing, for example, his Investing in America program, an argument he made last week in the Wall Street Journal.
“The other big piece of this is the president’s the most pro-labor president in our history,” one Biden campaign spokesman said. “Having this kind of unprecedented show of solidarity from organized labor is not just a big deal, but it’s a real sign of investment from tens of millions of organized labor members that understand the president’s agenda.”
The rally is an opportunity for Biden to make a positive case for a second term and draw contrasts between himself and Republicans, addressing economic challenges and restricted abortion access, according to Democratic strategist and Third Way co-founder Matt Bennett.
“But the most urgent task is to remind the public what they love about him: his strong moral compass and sense of decency, his deep understanding of and commitment to working people, his fundamental optimism, and his belief that working together makes us stronger,” Bennett said. “All of these traits stand in sharp contrast to Trump, his likely opponent, and set up the choice that voters will face next year.”
At the same time, Trump is causing similar problems for other Republican primary candidates, raising $7 million since special counsel Jack Smith indicted him last week. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), who is polling second behind Trump, will also be on the campaign trail on Saturday, the governor attending Morning in Nevada PAC’s 8th Annual Basque Fry to pitch himself to the public after Trump’s arrest and arraignment for the federal classified documents case in Miami this week.
Regardless, Republicans are prepared to criticize Biden amid his net negative approval and favorability rating, with an average of roughly 2 in 5 people considering the country is headed in the right direction.
“Americans overwhelmingly reject Biden, and his presence on the campaign trail will only remind voters of his failed agenda and motivate them to vote him out in 2024,” Republican National Committee spokesman Nainoa Johsens said.
Saturday’s rally simultaneously demonstrates how dependent the Biden campaign is on the Democratic National Committee. The campaign, which appointed communications director Michael Tyler on Thursday, dismisses speculation it is operating with a skeleton staff, citing Biden’s decision to fold his bid into the DNC’s infrastructure and invest in the party, as opposed to past boom and bust tactics.
The rally has additionally underlined difficulties regarding separating Biden’s official and political activities, which dictates whether the taxpayer or the DNC or campaign pays, since the White House emailed a media advisory about it.
“It is a political rally, so I would refer you to the DNC,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters this week. “I’m just going to be very careful and not speak to that.”
Jean-Pierre demurred, too, when asked to confirm whether the AFL-CIO will endorse Biden on Saturday, days after being found in violation of the Hatch Act for post-2022 midterm election comments.
Before the rally, Biden appeared at the League of Conservation Voters’s annual Capital Dinner this week and has spoken at three fundraisers since he announced, twice in New York and once in Washington. The White House has advised reporters of another finance event this month in Maryland. The fundraisers serve the dual purpose of drumming up support and enthusiasm, per the campaign.
Aside from calling for tax and drug price reform, as well as climate change mitigation action, Biden, who raised more money than Trump in 2020, recalled during one fundraiser how longtime adviser and former Delaware Sen. Ted Kaufman warned him that the 2024 election will be “tough” and “pretty ugly,” the president conceding running again “wasn’t an automatic decision.”
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“Not because I didn’t think there was more to do, but because I thought to myself, four more years, I mean, six more years is a long time,” he said in New York last month. “It’s a legitimate thing to raise the question of age.”
Like the president, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff, even campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, deputy Quentin Fulks, and DNC Executive Director Sam Cornale have taken part in more fundraisers or reaching out to donors, with several finance events scheduled during the next two weeks before June 30.