Biden Attacks Trump on ‘Character,’ Looking Past Democratic Foes
Biden Attacks Trump on ‘Character,’ Looking Past Democratic Foes
(Bloomberg) -- Joe Biden turned his attention to President Donald Trump in a bid Thursday to secure uncertain Iowa Democrats’ support before Monday’s presidential nominating caucuses, promising a clear general-election contrast on issues and values if he becomes the party’s nominee.
The former vice president has struggled to take a commanding position in Iowa, the first state on the Democratic primary calendar, with its caucus just four days away.
He’s pushing voters to look past intra-party fights and choose him as the candidate best equipped to face Trump on the debate stage and at the ballot box. While Trump’s impeachment trial has overtaken Washington and forced some of Biden’s opponents to stay off the campaign trail, Biden touched on it in broad language that focused on Trump’s broader failings.
“This November, America will have the chance to answer the question: Does the character of a president matter?” Biden told a crowd of several hundred in Waukee, hours before Trump holds a rally in Des Moines on Thursday.
“Does it matter if a president lies? Does it matter if a president has no moral compass? Does it matter if a president believes he or she is above the law? Does it matter if a president is petty, mean and spiteful? Does it matter what the character of the president is?” Biden said, drawing shouted yeses from many.
“I believe the answer to each and every one of these questions is what you think as well -- yes,” he continued. “Over the course of this presidency, Donald Trump has proved he believes the answer to each and every one of these questions is no.”
If Biden is elected, he said, “the president’s tax returns won’t be a secret. Political self interest will not be confused with the national interest. And no one, not even the president of the United States, will be above the law.”
Trump is dropping into the state to counter Democrats’ messages against him and potentially to stir up a little trouble in the Democratic race with his comments on the field. He’s also hoping to juice turnout in Monday’s Republican caucuses to show strength even in an non-competitive race.
Much of Biden’s argument to Iowa Democrats is centered on electability. On Thursday, he argued that he’s already run against Trump once and won -- when he campaigned for candidates in 2018 to defend the Affordable Care Act -- and can do so again this year.
“Trump and I have already gone one round with each other on health care,” he said. “In 2018, I went to 24 states for 65 candidates. I took on Trump all over the country -- and beat him.”
Democrats won enough seats in the congressional midterm elections in 2018 to retake control of the House of Representatives.
“We should remember that this year,” he said. “I believe if we take the fight to Trump on Obamacare again, we’ll beat him again,” not only by winning the presidency but by also winning a majority in the Senate.
Biden spoke optimistically about what’s possible if Trump is defeated while reminding voters of the “dark, angry nation” that’s conveyed in the president’s tweets. It will amount to a closing argument for him, coming days before Iowans gather to caucus with polls showing no clear front-runner and likely setting the tone for his final four days of pre-caucus campaigning.
Biden’s speech was be paired with a 60-second ad called “Character,” in which a narrator says that quality is what counts in the Oval Office, whether it’s Barack Obama’s or Trump’s. With a series of images of the candidate’s past, the commercial highlights his working-class background, his family tragedies, his work in the Obama administration and his countless miles on Amtrak trains. “Character matters. Maybe more here than anywhere,” the narration says in closing, an image of the Oval Office on the screen.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Waukee, Iowa at jepstein32@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.net
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