Trump Says He'd Deck Biden as Democrat Talks Tough on Women
Trump Says He'd Drop Biden After Democrat's Tough Talk in Miami
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump has a message for Joe Biden: "He would go down fast and hard."
The Republican president’s first tweet Thursday -- when Congress is supposed to begin voting on a $1.3 trillion spending bill -- responded to Biden having told a group of college Democrats that if the two men were in high school he’d “beat the hell” out of Trump if he mistreated women.
"Crazy Joe Biden is trying to act like a tough guy,” Trump said in a morning Twitter posting. “Actually, he is weak, both mentally and physically, and yet he threatens me, for the second time, with physical assault. He doesn’t know me, but he would go down fast and hard, crying all the way. Don’t threaten people Joe!"
The back-and-forth was an unusually blunt exchange between two politicians never known for getting along. The two could potentially face each other in 2020 if Trump seeks a second term and if the former vice president decides to try to win the Democratic nomination.
Increasing speculation over a Trump-Biden match-up, the former vice president is set to announce the formation of a policy advisory board at the Biden Institute on Thursday, along with outlining ideas for bolstering the economy and middle class.
Members of the panel include David Plouffe, former senior adviser and campaign manager to former President Barack Obama, as well as advisers and Cabinet members from the Obama White House. Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist and senior adviser to the party’s 2008 nominee, Senator John McCain, will also serve on the new board, according to a statement from the institute.
Biden spoke Tuesday at the University of Miami during an anti-sexual assault rally.
"A guy who ended up becoming our national leader said, ‘I can grab a woman anywhere and she likes it’ and then said, ‘I made a mistake,’" Biden said Tuesday of Trump, according to a video of his speech on CNN. He was referring to the "Access Hollywood" tape released shortly before the 2016 election in which the then-candidate bragged of grabbing women.
"They asked me would I like to debate this gentleman, and I said, ‘No,’" Biden said. “If we were in high school, I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him."
Trump is being sued by a former “Apprentice” contestant for defamation related to her allegations that he groped her, which he’s denied. He’s also embroiled in scandals involving a $130,000 payment to an adult film actress, Stephanie Clifford, who performed under the name Stormy Daniels, and a former Playboy model who claims she had a 10-month affair with Trump starting in 2006. The former model is trying to void a contract with the National Enquirer barring her from talking about the encounter.
Trump followed up Thursday by praising his own ability to cause a ruckus on social media, referring to his presidential campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
"Remember when they were saying, during the campaign, that Donald Trump is giving great speeches and drawing big crowds, but he is spending much less money and not using social media as well as Crooked Hillary’s large and highly sophisticated staff. Well, not saying that anymore!" Trump said in another posting.
To contact the reporter on this story: Terrence Dopp in Washington at tdopp@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Derek Wallbank at dwallbank@bloomberg.net, Elizabeth Wasserman, Kathleen Hunter
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.