Trump Aide Trolls Biden by Urging More Airtime: Campaign Update

(Bloomberg) -- The 2020 presidential election may be the first in which both candidates hope the other gets more air time.

President Donald Trump’s campaign manager said Thursday that Joe Biden’s public appearances were “rambling displays of incoherence, ineptitude, and forgetfulness.”

“We formally join Joe Biden’s campaign in their call for the national news media, particularly cable and broadcast television outlets, to carry Biden’s remarks and unscripted events in their entirety,” campaign manager Brad Parscale said.

Democrats have expressed similar sentiments about Trump’s press briefings, which have featured him musing about whether injecting bleach would cure the coronavirus or whether he should take an RV vacation with first lady Melania Trump.

Trump Disapproval Reaches 52-Week High (12:58 p.m.)

President Donald Trump’s disapproval is at a 52-week high, according to an average of polls by RealClearPolitics.

The average of polls conducted May 28 to June 10 shows a 13-point difference, with 55.1% of respondents disapproving of Trump and 42.1% approving. That’s just slightly higher than Trump’s previous disapproval high of 55% in October, amid the House’s impeachment inquiry.

The numbers suggest the president faces steep odds in November. No incumbent with a job approval below 48% has won re-election. But Trump has beaten expectations before. He was elected in 2016 despite having the highest unfavorable score in Gallup polling history, and he began his first term essentially even, with 44% of voters approving and disapproving. -- Ryan Teague Beckwith

Biden Worries Trump May Try to ‘Steal’ Election (11:12 a.m.)

Joe Biden said his top worry about the presidential election is that President Donald Trump is going to “steal the election” by making it difficult for Americans to vote.

“This president’s going to try to steal this election,” the Democratic nominee said Wednesday on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.”

Trump’s efforts to discourage states from adopting vote-by-mail and other policies that make it easier for Americans to vote are “my greatest concern, my single greatest concern” about the election, Biden said.

“This is a guy who said all mail-in ballots are fraudulent, voting by mail, while he sits behind the desk in the Oval Office and writes his mail-in ballot to vote in the primary,” he said of Trump.

Biden’s comments came a day after voters in Georgia waited in hours-long lines to vote in the state’s presidential primary after the state closed some polling places and others struggled with untrained workers.

Biden was also asked if he’s concerned that Trump will refuse to leave the White House if he loses the election. The former vice president said he’s confident that the military would get Trump out of the building. “I am absolutely convinced they will escort him from the White House with great dispatch,” he said. -- Jennifer Epstein

Abrams Says Biden Hasn’t Called About VP Role (10:04 a.m.)

Stacey Abrams, an activist and former Georgia lawmaker considered as a possible Democratic vice presidential pick, said Thursday she has yet to be vetted for the role by Joe Biden’s campaign.

“I have said many times that if called, I will answer. But I have not received any calls,” Abrams said when asked on CBS’s “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on Wednesday.

The former Georgia gubernatorial candidate is seen as an up-and-comer in the Democratic Party. But her chances at being Biden’s running mate seemed to dampen after she pushed a public campaign for the position.

Women who have said they were contacted by the campaign for vetting include Florida Representative Val Demings, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth. -- Emma Kinery

COMING UP:

Joe Biden is holding a roundtable with community leaders in Philadelphia on Thursday. President Donald Trump will resume his signature rallies with an event in Tulsa, Oklahoma next week. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for the week beginning Aug. 17 in Milwaukee, while the Republicans are slated to meet a week later, beginning on Aug. 24, at a to-be-determined location.

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