Biden campaign memo calls Trump ‘wounded, dangerous and unpopular’ general election candidate
Top Biden campaign officials on Wednesday cited the results of Super Tuesday as evidence former President Trump is a vulnerable general election candidate.
“The results of last night’s Super Tuesday contests cemented what we have known for some time now: Donald Trump limps into the general election as a wounded, dangerous and unpopular candidate,” Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez wrote in a memo shared with reporters.
“The Republican nominee is cash-strapped, beleaguered by a host of external issues, and is running on an extreme agenda that is already proving to be a significant liability for key voting blocs that are critical to the pathway to 270 electoral votes,” the two wrote.
Trump nearly swept the Super Tuesday states, with Nikki Haley’s only win coming in Vermont. Trump is expected to secure the necessary delegates in the coming weeks to become the presumptive Republican nominee, setting up a rematch with President Biden in November.
The former president made no mention of Haley in his victory speech, predicting the GOP would unify around him and spending extended time bashing Biden over immigration, crime and the economy.
Reports surfaced later Wednesday morning that Haley would drop out of the race.
Biden has easily won each Democratic primary contest, though there are signs of discontent in states including Michigan and Minnesota, where a campaign to vote “uncommitted” in protest of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war racked up thousands of votes.
Polling has shown Trump leading Biden in several key swing states, including Michigan, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. Recent polls have shown Biden leading in Pennsylvania, with a close race in Wisconsin.
But Biden campaign officials in Wednesday’s memo argued the choice between Trump and Biden in November is just coming into view.
“Building off of last night’s momentum, tomorrow evening’s State of the Union address will provide the American people with the latest example of the stark choice they will be confronted with in November between President Biden, who remains laser-focused on delivering for the American people while running on a historically popular record of accomplishment, and Donald Trump, whose failed record and dark vision for this country is as dangerous as it is unpopular with the voters who will decide this election,” O’Malley Dillon and Rodriguez wrote.
The two acknowledged November will be a “very close general election contest,” but pointed to a few key factors as evidence Biden is in a strong position after Super Tuesday.
Biden’s campaign argued the president is consolidating his coalition more effectively than Trump, noting Haley garnered thousands of votes in numerous states despite the GOP primary effectively being a foregone conclusion. High percentages of Haley voters have also indicated they would not vote for Trump in a general election.
The memo also pointed to the vast difference in campaign resources as a sign of trouble for Trump. The Biden campaign brought in a record haul in grassroots fundraising in February, and the campaign had $130 million in cash on hand as of last month.
Trump, meanwhile, has burned through money to pay his mounting legal expenses, though he is expected to get an infusion of cash when he becomes the presumptive nominee and can merge his fundraising efforts with the Republican National Committee.
The Biden campaign officials argued Biden has a stronger agenda and the results at the ballot box to prove he is capable of winning in November. The memo pointed to strong Democratic turnout since the June 2022 Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, an issue likely to be a central factor in November’s race.
“The road to victory is about earning, not just asking for, the American people’s support. That means putting in the work in every community, meeting voters where they are about the stakes of this election, and investing everywhere,” O’Malley Dillon and Rodriguez wrote. “We are confident that the President and Vice President’s vision for unity, freedom, and progress will again defeat Donald Trump’s extremist, dangerous agenda this November.”
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